sills 

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iary  01  an 
American  Woman 


• 


William  the  Second 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN 
AMERICAN  WOMAN 

TO  THE  PROCLAMATION 
OF    THE    HOLY    WAR 

1914 


BY 

JOUETT  JEFFRIES 

Illustrated 


1915 

THE  FATHERLAND  CORPORATION 

NEW  YORK  CITY 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
Jouett  Jeffries 


mi 


10 


1 1 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
William  the  Second Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

The  Empress  of  Germany 16 

The  Crown  Prince  of  Germany 32 

Kaiser  Francis  Joseph 48 

Chancellor  Bethmann  von  Hollweg 64 

Admiral  von  Tirpitz 80 

Von  Moltke 96 

The  Czar  of  Russia  and  the  English  King  .     .    .112 


WAR   DIARY 
OF  AN   AMERICAN   WOMAN 

Geneva,  Switzerland,  June  28th,  19 14.  The 
dreaming,  drifting  summer  days,  by  the  blue 
waters  of  Lake  Leman,  are  rudely  shaken  by  the 
ominous  report  that  comes  thundering  over  the 
Alps  of  the  assassination  of  Archduke  Ferdinand, 
heir  to  the  Throne  of  the  Dual  Monarchy,  in  the 
Bosnian  City  of  Sarajevo. 

All  the  world  stands  aghast  at  the  accomplished 
deed  of  a  Servian  serf,  a  deed  that  adds  one  more 
drama  of  sorrow  to  the  grief-bowed  Monarch  of 
the  Austrian  realm  and  stabs  the  twain  country  a 
heart  thrust,  that  is  soon  to  sound  the  trumpet  call 
of  war  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  Europe. 

Unto  the  royal  dead,  the  Archduke  Franz  Fer- 
dinand and  his  Consort,  the  Duchess  of  Hohen- 
berg,  all  honor  is  given  midst  traces  and  trappings 
of  wo  and  the  entire  world  renders  sympathy  to 
the  aged  Emperor's  court  and  country  while  far- 
seeing  seers,  gazing  at  War  clouds,  watch  and 
wait  the  effect  and  verdict  of  a  nation's  grief  and 
grievance. 

To  those  not  in  the  scheme  of  things,  only 
silence  seems  to  follow,  the  dead-death  silence,  the 
re-action,  the  torpor,  the  dazedness  of  tragedy 
hangs  heavy  over  the  Empire  of  Emperor  Joseph. 

5 


6      WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

What  his  Majesty's  Ministers  of  State  plan  as 
their  note  to  Servia,  to  the  world  at  large,  is  only 
a  matter  of  conjecture. 

July  i$th.  Seemingly  all  goes  well,  the  tocsin 
of  war  fades  far  and  faint.  The  summer  days  are 
on  the  land,  woods  call,  mountains  beckon,  sea 
lures,  the  Prince  and  pauper,  and  all  the  work-a- 
day  world,  of  every  clime  and  nation,  Monarchy 
and  Republic,  and  from  oversea,  fare  forth  to  the 
lure  of  a  summer  in  Arcady! 

The  German  Emperor  as  is  His  Majesty's  wont 
seeks  rest  and  recreation  in  the  Fjords  of  the 
Norsemen  and  the  President  of  France  makes  his 
first  official  visit  to  the  capital  of  all  the  Russias. 

July  24th.  It  is  the  24th  of  July  in  Southern 
Tyrol  where  Austria  and  Italy  join  hands  over  the 
great,  glorious  Dolomitian  range,  the  wonder- 
country  of  all  Europe,  where  the  snow-topped, 
vari-colored  mountain  peaks  keep  guard  over  smil- 
ing vineyards  and  sweet  smelling  fields. 

In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  all  is  changed,  over 
the  peace  and  plenty  of  the  land,  loom  heavy 
clouds;  heavens  roar  forth  their  thunder  midst 
clash  and  cracks,  as  if  all  the  Gods  of  Heaven 
called  to  all  the  Sons  of  men  the  War  Cry. 

We  get  out  of  our  country  fastnesses,  to  the 
quaint,  picturesque  half  Italian  "Levico"  and  hear 
that  for  the  murder  of  even  an  unliked,  uncrowned 
head  (for  the  policies  of  the  Archduke  were  not 
popular  with  all  peoples)  the  Austro-Hungarian 
Government,  on  the  24th  of  July,  presented  her 
note  to  Servia,  in  which  it  is  explained  and  ex- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN      7 

pressed  that  the  direct  connection  between  the 
murder  at  Sarajevo  and  the  Pan-Servian  move- 
ment, has  not  only  been  countenanced,  but  actively 
supported  by  the  Servian  Government. 

The  demand,  the  request  is  for  a  complete  cessa- 
tion of  this  agitation,  punishment  of  the  guilty 
and  as  necessary  guarantee  the  presence  and  parti- 
cipation of  the  Austrian  officials  at  the  examination 
on  Servian  territory  and  the  final  dissolution  of 
Pan-Servian  Societies  agitating  against  Austria- 
Hungary. 

The  Imperial  and  Royal  Government  have  given 
48  hours  for  the  unconditional  acceptance  of  its 
demands. 

What  less,  what  more  moderate  demands  could 
an  outraged  nation  ask  in  atonement? 

Groups  of  Austrian,  Italian  peasants  crowd  the 
village,  garrison  soldiers  hurry  to  and  fro  and  idle 
folk,  push  into  cafes,  and  crowd  street  corners 
with  questioning  eyes  for  news  of  the  far  away, 
for  news  that  might  menace  the  golden  days  of 
their  golden  harvest. 

We  get  hold  of  our  "Cocchiere,"  and  go  on  our 
way,  under  the  stars,  and  listen  to  the  silence  of 
the  great  mountains  and  with  all  the  world  beauti- 
ful around  and  about  feel  the  assurance  of  peace. 

The  military  band  plays;  soft  breezes  carry  the 
scent  of  rose  blossoms;  the  moon  flashes  silver  on 
fantastic  Dolomites  and  these  diverse  people  who 
have  found  this  beauty  realm  of  the  Southern 
Tyrol  feel  no  fear  for  the  morrow. 


8      WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN     . 

July  2$th.  Our  pleasures  do  not  hold  us.  We 
can  not  keep  to  our  lazy  loafing  time,  some  insis- 
tent inner  voice  urges  us  to  be  watchful  of  news 
and  we  join  the  crowds  of  harvesters,  village 
beauties  and  sun-kissed  children,  that  gather  about 
news-vendors,  follow  postmen  and  hang  around 
telegraph  stations. 

At  last!  Our  patience  has  been  rewarded,  the 
papers  tell  us  that  on  yesterday,  the  23rd,  after 
the  note  was  sent,  Koudacheff,  Russian  Charge 
d'affaires  in  Vienna,  asked  for  a  longer  term  to 
answer  and  vague  rumors  come  by  wire  that  the 
Servian  Government  has  started  its  mobilization. 

Suspense  and  suspicion  are  rife.  Crime  back  of 
crime  and  plot  within  plot,  threaten  the  peace  of 
all  Europe  and  the  "to  be  or  not  to  be"  of  the  hour 
has  been  and  is  Russia,  the  power  behind  the 
Servian  Throne. 

The  Romanoff  holds  the  destiny  of  all  nations 
in  the  hollow  of  his  hands.  What  will  he  do  with 
it? 

"Does  Russia  want  war?"  is  the  burning  ques- 
tion of  the  hour. 

July  2&th.  There  is  War  and  Rumors  of  War ! 
Every  moment  of  these  days  is  troubled,  one 
thinks  war,  speaks  war,  dreams  war,  dreads  war. 

Into  our  Garden  of  Eden  has  crept  and  crawled 
the  Serpent  of  Strife. 

Even  the  veriest  idler  idles  badly  and  one  and 
all  hie  many  a  time  a  day  to  the  market  place  for 
news. 

On  the  25th  of  July  at  six  p.m.  the  term  ex- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN      9 

pired  and  on  the  26th  the  Servian  Government 
rendered  a  reply  complying  with  some  of  the 
Austria-Hungary  conditions,  but  so  plainly  show- 
ing in  all  essentials,  by  procrastination  and  pro- 
posals of  new  negotiations,  the  plan  to  escape  the 
just  demands  of  the  Monarchy,  that  the  Austrian 
Government  discontinues  her  diplomatic  relations 
with  Servia. 

Why  play  and  parley?  Why  further  dally  with 
Servian  assurances,  whose  value,  to  her  loss  she 
has  largely  experienced? 

From  this  moment  of  forced  decision  in  forced 
defence  of  her  national  life,  Austria  is  at  War  with 
Servia  and  proclaims  this  fact  on  this  28th  day  of 
July,  1914. 

The  hand  of  the  Moscovite  has  pressed  the  but- 
ton.    The  dogs  of  war  are  let  loose. 

What  will  it  mean?  Where  will  it  end,  this 
declaration  of  war? 

What  of  our  astute  diplomatists  who  claim  a 
pen  greater  than  a  sword?  What  of  the  Hague 
and  its  annual  summer  gatherings  of  peace-makers? 
What  of  the  powers  that  guide  and  guard?  What 
of  the  apostle  of  peace  in  the  Western  hemisphere 
backed  by  a  mighty  Republic  ?  Will  these — will  all 
these  stand  by  and  watch  the  Cossack  break  arms 
and  call  for  her  Allies? 

July  2,0th,  1 9 14.  We  hear  that  the  last  passenger 
trains  are  to  go  through,  and  that  all  communica- 
tions, post  and  telegraph,  will  be  taken  over  by  the 
military  authorities. 

There   is   Switzerland  and  Italy  to   fly  to,  but 


10    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Italy,  if  she  keeps  her  troth,  will  soon  be  under 
arms  and  the  Alps  offer  only  an  asylum,  or  isola- 
tion from  kind  and  kindred,  so  we  hurry  to  Munich 
to  be  in  touch  with  events  and  friends. 

In  haste,  we  fling  our  goodbyes,  to  the  moun- 
tainland  of  beauty,  and  the  train  crawls  through 
passes  and  crevices,  into  the  half-Italian,  half- 
Austrian  Trento  where  we  get  but  scant  news,  but 
get  on  our  way  to  Munich. 

We  feel  relieved  when  we  have  gotten  to  the 
centre  of  things. 

All  sorts  and  conditions  of  folk  and  nations 
crowd  the  cars,  French  coming  from  Italy,  Ger- 
mans from  their  play-ground  of  the  Swiss  land, 
and  Americans  from  everywhere,  all  disturbed  and 
distressed.  We  hear  on  all  out-going  steamships 
there  is  not  a  berth  to  be  had. 

Can  all  this  have  a  semblance  of  truth?  Or  are 
these  holiday  makers  panic-stricken  by  their  plight 
and  presence  in  a  land  of  strife. 

We  arrive  worn  and  weary,  no  porters  to  carry 
our  baggage,  all  is  hustle  and  bustle,  confusion 
worse  confounded,  the  world  seems  let  loose  in  the 
station  of  Munich.  We  push  through  the  crowds 
to  arrive  in  a  hotel,  so  well-ordered  and  with  such 
tranquillity  and  assurances  of  well-being,  that  our 
fears  are  quelled,  and  in  the  "wee  sma'  hours"  we 
settle  down  to  our  night  of  peace. 

July  31^.  The  sun  shines  down  on  this 
Bavarian  city,  and  the  quiet  of  a  midsummer  day 
broods  over  houses  and  hamlets. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    11 

Music,  the  magic  of  music,  that  calls  unto  all,  to 
come  and  hear,  begins  its  reign.  It  is  the  first 
series  of  the  Ring  and  motors  come  and  go  to 
bring  the  devotees  to  the  kingdom  of  Wagner. 

There  are  no  martial  marches,  no  military  in  the 
great  broad  streets,  only  Art  and  Artists  and  idlers 
on  pleasure  bent. 

Was  yesterday  a  dim  dark  dream? 

But,  unwittingly,  fears,  sub-conscious  fears,  beset 
us  and  we  decide  to  make  for  Berlin  to  know  the 
best, — or  the  worst  of  the  rumors  that  rush  through 
the  air. 

In  hurried  haste  we  gather  bag  and  baggage, 
and  get  to  the  train.  Such  a  scene!  It  beggars 
description !     Pandemonium ! 

The  seven  ages  of  man  and  of  woman,  from 
swaddling  clothes  to  the  hoary  haired,  are  clamor- 
ing to  get  on  board — anyway — to  anywhere ! 

Transportation  is  the  cry.  Why  this  roar  ?  The 
terrible  truth  comes  forth,  that  it  may  be  the  last 
passenger  train  out  of  Munich. 

The  one  conclusion  is:  the  Czar  does  not  accept 
the  Servian  situation  and  a  German-Russian  war  is 
imminent. 

It  is  in  the  air;  one  sees  it;  one  feels  it,  in  the 
mad  rush  of  everyone  and  everything. 

Although  we  have  engaged  a  compartment  there 
is  hardly  standing  room,  and  all  the  night  through 
it  is  breathing  space  we  clamor  for.  An  officer, 
done  for,  travel-stained  and  mud-bespattered,  gives 
us  seating  accommodation  out  of  his  kit. 

There   are   the   mountain   climbers,    the    school 


12    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

children,  the  men  of  affairs,  the  professors  and 
preachers,  the  sun-brown  soldier-men  and  the 
stranger  within  their  gates  and  this  trainload  of 
anxious  humanity,  homeward  bound,  settle  down 
patiently  in  the  long  watches  of  the  night,  as  we 
rush  and  push  through  country  and  towns  on  our 
way  to  Berlin. 

August  ist.  This  morning  of  August  ist  dawns 
bright  and  fair,  as  we  steam  and  speed  through 
green  fields  and  pastures  new  and  the  rich  wood- 
lands encircling  the  Capital  of  the  Germans.  A 
land  of  peace  and  plenty,  with  all  the  quiet,  country- 
side going  their  wonted  ways  in  the  early  morning 
hours ! 

And,  it  is  only  by  looking  into  the  tired  and  eager 
faces  of  our  fellow  travellers  that  we  remember  the 
dark,  dreary  night  dream  now  born  into  a  reality. 

It  is  too  strange  to  be  true ! 

The  iron  horse  pulls  us  into  the  station.  At  last 
we  are  arrived. 

Doubtless,  in  the  world's  history,  events  of  such 
import  have  never  succeeded  one  another  so 
rapidly  and  ruthlessly,  as  on  the  30th  and  31st  of 
July,  19 14. 

Chroniclers  in  days  to  come  will  draw  many  a 
pen  over  many  a  page  before  they  can  give  to  the 
children  of  men,  this  picture  of  kaleidoscopic 
events  which  blind  the  eye  and  blur  the  brain. 

Russia  has  dictated  to  her  Servian  serfs  and  now 
proceeds  with  her  game  of  the  world's  pawns. 

From  the  28th  of  July,  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  Austro-Servian  conflict,   Germany  has  as- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    13 

sumed  the  position  that  her  duty  lies  in  localizing 
the  war,  and  towards  convincing  other  powers,  that 
Austria-Hungary  had  to  appeal  to  arms  in  justifi- 
able self-defence,  forced  upon  her  by  conditions. 

No  civilized  country  or  Ally  has  the  right  to  stay 
the  arm  of  Austria  in  this  struggle  with  barbarism 
and  political  crime  and  simultaneously  the  Austrian 
Government  informs  Russia  that  their  action 
against  Servia  is  only  a  defensive  measure,  against 
Servian  agitation,  and  that  it  has  no  intention  of 
shifting  the  balance  of  Power  in  the  Balkans. 

With  the  German  declaration  to  localize  the  con- 
flict, both  the  French  and  English  promise  to  act  in 
the  same  direction. 

But  it  seems  on  the  24th,  Russia  officially  de- 
clares she  could  not  remain  indifferent  to  the  con- 
flict, which  resulted  in  reiterated  statements  from 
Germany  that  she  only  wished  Peace  at  her  fron- 
tiers and  from  Servia  that  it  claimed  no  territorial 
gain. 

On  St.  Petersburg  then  rests  the  decision  for  the 
peace  of  the  world. 

The  hand  that  holds  the  sceptre  is  to  wield  the 
power  for  good  or  evil  and  decide  the  fate  and 
destinies  of  many  peoples  and  of  many  nations. 

The  War  Lord,*  as  Emperor  William  II  of  Ger- 

*War  Lord,  Kriegsherr,  in  German  means  leader  of  the 
army,  which  is  a  constitutional  right.  For  the  matter  of  that, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  is  the  "War  Lord"  of  his 
country.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Lincoln  as  the  President  had 
more  absolute  control  of  the  American  army  than  has  the 
German  Emperor,  who  is  a  strictly  constitutional  ruler. 


14    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

many  has  oft  been  styled,  has  proved  in  these  days 
of  high  tension  to  be  the  Peace  god. 

To  the  onlooker  in  this  foreign  land  one  fact 
stands  firm — that  Russia  has  been  guilty  of  flirting 
with  the  peace  terms  and  diplomatic  relations  of 
Germany  in  order  to  gain  time  to  secretly  mobilize, 
and  like  the  flirt  with  only  one  aim,  to  play  and 
cheat. 

While  Germany  was  striving  and  straining  to 
bring  forth  peace  the  Czar  had,  unknown  to  the 
Kaiser,  ordered  mobilization.  The  interchange  of 
telegrams  between  these  two  potentates  are  pub- 
lished as  official  documents  in  the  German  White 
Book  and  speak  for  themselves. 

Shoulder  to  shoulder  with  England,  Germany 
labored  incessantly  to  swing  back  the  pendulum  of 
war  but  accumulation  of  Russian  troops  all  over 
Germany's  Eastern  frontier  and  a  declaration  of 
war  over  the  Franco-German  frontier  banished 
further  doubts  as  to  the  ultimate  intentions  of 
Nicolaus  although  simultaneously  all  such  mea- 
sures were  denied  on  word  of  honor  to  the  Kaiser's 
representative  at  St.  Petersburg. 

Acting  upon  this  information  the  Kaiser  tele- 
graphed the  Czar,  calling  his  attention  to  the  men- 
acing character  of  the  Russian  mobilization  during 
the  continuance  of  his  own  mediating  activities  and 
on  the  23rd  of  July  wires  the  Czar  stating  his 
knowledge  of  these  questionable  dealings  and  in 
the  face  of  this  that  his  "mediation  has  become 
almost  illusory." 

In  spite  of  all  these  warnings  and  implications 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    15 

Russia  makes  no  changes  in  her  plans  and  prepara- 
tions and  on  the  31st  July  the  German  Emperor 
telegraphs  his  cousin: — 

"I  have  gone  to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  possible 
in  my  efforts  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of 
the  world. 

"It  is  not  I  who  bear  the  responsibility  for  the 
misfortune  which  now  threatens  the  entire  civilized 
world. 

"It  rests  in  your  hands  to  avoid  it !  The  peace  of 
Europe  can  still  be  preserved  by  you,  if  Russia 
decides  to  discontinue  those  military  preparations 
which  menace  Germany  and  Austro-Hungary." 

At  two  o'clock  the  same  day  the  Czar  tele- 
graphed : — 

"I  confide  with  all  my  faith  in  the  grace  of  God, 
and  I  hope  for  the  success  of  your  mediation  in 
Vienna — and  for  the  welfare  of  our  countries  and 
the  peace  of  Europe." 

At  this  time,  at  this  moment,  Russian  mobiliza- 
tion was  in  full  swing  and  after  it  became  known 
in  Berlin  the  Imperial  Ambassador  in  St.  Peters- 
burg was  instructed  on  the  afternoon  of  July  31st 
to  explain  to  the  Russian  Government  that  Ger- 
many would  declare  war  as  a  counter-measure, 
followed  by  mobilization  unless  Russia  cease  her 
military  measures  within  twelve  hours  and  notify 
Germany  thereof. 

It  is  stated  that  General  von  Moltke,  Chief-of- 
the-General-Staff,  urged  this  upon  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg,  the  Chancellor,  knowing  full  well  that  further 
peace  and  patience  would  lose  Germany  and  the 


16    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Germans  many  hours  of  useful,  important  mobili- 
zation. 

At  the  same  time  the  Imperial  Ambassador  in 
Paris  was  instructed  to  demand  from  the  French 
Government  a  declaration  within  eighteen  hours, 
whether  it  would  remain  neutral  in  a  Russo-German 
war. 

The  results  of  these  efforts  and  failures  on  the 
part  of  the  ruler  of  the  German  people  are  now, 
only  too  well-known. 

So,  we  arrive  in  Berlin,  after  our  hurried  journey 
from  the  Southern  Tyrol,  to  find  that  in  a  few 
hours,  the  sword  of  Damocles  will  have  fallen. 

To  the  onlooker,  the  outsider,  the  absolute  out- 
sider, the  men  and  women  from  the  far-away 
world  over-seas,  to  those  that  have  eyes  to  see  and 
ears  to  hear,  writ,  in  big  black  letters,  is  treason 
and  treachery,  to  the  German  Father  and  his 
Fatherland. 

To  the  veriest  non-partisan,  who  may  think  in 
his  American  mind  of  this  as  a  "European  scrap" 
— even  to  him,  it  is  all  too  evident. 

It  is  four  p.m.  We  have  been  to  the  American 
Embassy.  Throngs  upon  throngs  demanding  news 
and  direction,  excited,  hurried  people ! 

The  last  train  goes  through  to  Flushing  to-night. 

After  all  our  rush  and  steady  travel,  we  are  too 
late  for  it  and  have  no  passports. 

All  the  officials  and  they  are  well-trained  men, 
diplomatic,  military,  and  naval  representatives 
under  Mr.  Gerard,  the  Ambassador  of  the  United 
States,  all  these  are  sanguine. 


The  Empress  of  Germany 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    17 

There  is  still  time,  some  hours  yet  for  Russia  to 
stave  off  the  blow  of  blade  and  bastion  and  like  a 
drowning  man  who  catches  at  straws,  we  hope  in 
these  bitter  hours. 

We  go  to  our  rooms  in  the  Hotel  Adlon,  over- 
looking Unter  den  Linden,  to  rest,  to  collect  our 
scattered  brains,  and  to  try  to  believe  from  assur- 
ances and  re-assurances  that  no  hand  of  might  and 
main  could  have  the  desire  to  light  a  torch  that  will 
undoubtedly  start  a  conflagration,  that  will  blaze 
out,  from  North  to  South,  from  East  to  West. 

But  they  wot  not,  whereof  they  spoke  or  hoped. 

5.30  p.m.    It  is  all  over,  the  die  is  cast! 

Russia  sends  no  answer.  The  time  limit  has  ex- 
pired! War  is  proclaimed  from  the  house-tops 
and  the  market  places. 

And  later,  we  learn  at  this  moment  Russian 
troops  cross  the  German  frontier  and  march  into 
German  territory.    Incredulous  traitorship. 

Russia  begins  the  war. 

Uneasy  for  ever  must  lie  the  head  that  wears 
this  crown,  and  woebetide,  the  hand  and  heart  that 
gives  battles  and  battalions  their  being! 

On  this  same  memorable  afternoon  France 
answers — "that  France  will  do  what  our  interest 
demands." 

Pen  can't  write,  words  can't  describe,  sights  and 
scenes  before  us. 

The  great  broad  avenues  of  great  Berlin,  are 
crowded  to  overflowing  with  a  cheering,  clamoring 
throng  as  the  Crown  Prince  on  his  way  to  the 


18    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Chancellor,  motors  by,  calling  out  to  right,  to  left, 
"Mobil." 

The  word  is  wildfire,  it  ignites  the  populace. 
The  enthusiasm  is  enormous.  And  then  comes  the 
Emperor,  who  is  to  give  his  speech  in  Parliament 
with  his  never-to-be-forgotten  message  to  his 
people. 

"We  have  now  no  different  parties.  We  are  all 
one  party.  We  are  Germans!"  And  all  Germany 
in  answer  stands  up  like  one  man. 

Prince  and  peasant,  from  lowlands  and  high- 
lands, statesman,  socialist,  soldier  and  seaman, 
young  men  and  old  men,  rich  and  poor,  all — all 
join  hands  and  heart  in  indissolidable  union. 

There  is  no  dissension,  no  discord,  it  is  Union — 
a  great  grand  union,  of  brain  and  brawn! 

There  is  no  turning  back  now.  Forward!  is  the 
watchword.  Forward  to  victory  and  God  bless  our 
arms,  for  in  God  and  their  country's  right  these 
Teutons  most  firmly  give  their  troth  and  trust. 

And,  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  voices,  rise 
in  the  midnight  air,  chanting  "Die  Wacht  am 
Rhein." 

This  is  what  we  see — this  is  what  we  hear— on 
this  fateful  night  the  sequence  of  whose  day's 
events  will  bring  sorrow  and  suffering  victims  and 
victories  to  the  sons  of  men  and  change  the  politics 
and  policies  and  swing  and  sway  the  destinies  of 
nations  into  a  changed  map  of  Europe. 

-  August  2nd.  Yesterday  afternoon  France  gave 
her  answer  by  mobilizing  her  army  and  navy  and 
to-days  opens  hostilities. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    19 

The  Teuton,  then  is  in  warfare,  with  the  Slav 
and  the  Latin! 

In  nations,  as  in  individuals,  one  seeks  the 
"motif"  the  main-spring  of  movement. 

France  feminine  has  her  national  amour  propre! 
She  wants  back  her  jewels;  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
must  sparkle  again  in  her  diadem. 

This  and  this  only  is  doubtless  France's  "just 
cause"  and  the  "why  and  wherefore"  of  her  hoard- 
ing her  gold,  for  the  French  are  more  or  less 
peace-loving,  pleasure-loving;  they  want  their  life, 
they  want  their  gains  which  warfare  robs  and  ruins. 

And  Russia.  Is  Russia  bought  and  paid  for  by 
France  settling  her  war  debts  or  is  she  but  a  link 
in  a  great  chain  of  complications  and  compacts? 

Time  only  will  reveal  these  secret  stories  of 
statecraft. 

Austria  is  on  the  defensive  for  her  territory. 

Germany  for  her  Fatherland  and  fireside. 

These  are  the  four  great  nations  in  battle  array, 
drawn  up  by  the  Entente  and  Alliance. 

Italy  on  the  one  side,  England  on  the  other, 
silently  watch  and  wait. 

The  unbelieved  and  unbelievable  has  happened. 
We  are  in  a  country  at  war. 

What  is  war? 

We  know  it  by  song  and  by  story,  and  tales  of 
old,  but  the  war  of  to-day — what  means  it?  with 
man's  inventions  of  the  last  decade.  Death-dealing 
weapons  of  earth  and  sky  and  sea,  and  mighty 
ships  on  the  mighty  oceans ! 


20    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

To  think  of,  to  picture  the  modern  battlefield,  is 
hell  let  loose. 

Every  stranger  within  the  gates  of  Berlin,  is 
dazed  beyond  words  at  the  quick-firing  events  of 
the  last  twenty-four  hours  and  every  man,  woman 
and  child  of  them  cries  "Westward  Ho." 

But  Berlin  is  already  under  martial  law.  Mars 
— the  great  god  Mars,  reigns  supreme. 

Passenger  trains  and  traffic  are  stopped  by  the 
War  Minister. 

We  must  face  the  serious  situation;  there  is  no 
way  out.  We  are  trapped,  so  to  speak.  Americans 
to  the  number  of  one-hundred  thousand  in  Ger- 
many, and,  at  least,  twenty-five  thousand  in  Berlin, 
are  caught  in  the  country. 

The  Embassy  is  beseiged  by  a  seething  mass; 
passports  are  the  thing  to  secure  safety. 

These  are  grave  times,  the  present  is  dark  and 
one  has  misgivings  of  a  darker  future. 

We  go  to  the  telegraph  to  get  a  message  home; 
it  is  difficult;  nothing  is  accepted  except  in  the 
German  language  and  then  most  carefully  perused. 
Ours  is  returned  with  a  red  line  through  although 
it  is  only  personal. 

Everything  is  under  "censorship"  and  strict 
surveillance;  no  post  accepted.  We  must  try  to 
realize  conditions  and  also,  there  will,  most  prob- 
ably, be  the  difficult  question  of  finance. 

But,  so  much  is  passing  to  and  fro,  to  claim  our 
keen  attention  that  worry  over  personal  prospects 
is  forgotten. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    21 

There  is  movement  to  the  right  and  to  the  left 
of  us. 

The  same  crowds  of  patriots  that  broke  forth  in 
their  patriotic  songs  of  the  night  before  are  also, 
a  well-ordered,  well-working  machine. 

Germany  is  no  sluggard.  She  is  alert.  If  she 
is  not  quick  to  anger,  she  is  quick  to  action. 

The  word  "Mobil"  does  not  ring  out  for  naught. 
In  twelve  hours  after  the  order  is  given,  one- 
hundred  thousand  troops  are  passing  through  the 
City,  forty-eight  thousand  horses  are  ordered  out 
by  the  military  and  twelve  thousand  Red  Cross 
men  are  leaving  with  their  out-fits. 

There  is  no  haste  or  hitch. 

It  is  incredible,  the  electric  spark  has  been  set  to 
all  departments;  and  all  moves  with  decision  and 
like  clockwork. 

It  has  come  so  quickly  about,  it  is  all  so  uncanny 
— so  unreal — that  one  feels  as  if  one  had  wandered 
unwittingly  into  some  moving  picture  show. 

We  are  to  witness  the  remarkable  spectacle  of 
the  moving  of  a  great  army. 

The  moment  is  intense. 

Motors  hurry  up  and  down  the  streets,  throwing 
leaflets  "official  extras,"  to  the  hungry  groups. 

Crowds  collect,  crowds  rush  from  pillar  to  post; 
but  it  is  such  a  well-ordered  populace;  no  disputes 
and  wild  gesticulations  and  vain  boastings. 

The  street  scenes,  the  street  cries  of  Berlin  at 
this  critical  moment  of  the  nation's  capital  are  well 
worth  seeing,  well  worth  hearing. 


22    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  Vox  Populi  gives  forth  one  cry  of  indigna- 
tion against  the  enemy  outside  the  gates;  one  cry 
of  God  and  guard  within  and  with  such  a  power 
and  pressure  of  enthusiasm  push  onward  and  for- 
ward by  righteous  wrath.  What  can  Germany  not 
do  in  crossing  swords  in  a  most  righteous  cause? 

And  over  all  there  is  a  master  spirit,  a  master 
hand,  in  the  personality  of  one  born  to  the  purple. 
In  Potsdam  is  the  Kaiser,  in  the  near-by  Schloss. 
To  His  Majesty  goes  all  praise, — for  his  personal 
magic,  that  has  melted  and  merged  all  parties  into 
one  and  which  proves  to  the  world  the  unity  of  his 
people,  in  which,  there  is  no  hint  of  hesitation  of 
being,  one  of  heart,  of  soul,  and  of  body,  in  the 
Germany  around  the  Kaiser! 

And  now  the  troops  are  marching  by,  bright  of 
face,  clean  of  limb,  stout  of  heart,  brave  in  their 
new  field  uniform  of  dull  dark  grey,  or  rather  mud- 
color,  spick  and  span  from  top  to  toe  and  to  the 
notes  of  music  and  clink  of  sword,  they  go  forth  to 
the  fight,  to  be  food  for  the  cannon  and  there  is  no 
sign  or  signal  of  aught,  but  courage  and  confidence 
in  every  mother's  son  of  them.  One  sees  they 
hear  nothing,  heed  nothing,  want  nothing,  but 
Victory. 

This  is  the  first  day  for  the  call  of  the  reserves. 
Trains  and  traffic  everywhere,  not  for  pleasure  or 
commerce,  only  for  soldiers  and  soldiery. 

One  hundred-thousand  Germans  have  left  Paris 
over  Belgium  for  their  "ain  countree"  to  escape  the 
French  mob  and  the  Dutch  get  to  Holland  and 
eight-thousand  motors  are  shipped  to  the  French 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    23 

frontier,    Mark    Brandenburg,    and    the    German 
troops  are  already  marching  in  Luxemburg. 

The  French  Embassy  is  just  opposite  us  and 
there  is  much  excitement,  with  the  crowd  pressing 
outside  its  portals  guarded  by  the  guardians  of  the 
law. 

Jules  Cambon,  the  French  Ambassador,  has  been 
given  his  passport  and  is  leaving  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Government,  and  the  really  beautiful 
Embassy  of  France  has  all  light  extinguished  and 
curtains  drawn. 

One  remembers  the  proverb  of  Solomon  that 
"Hatred  stirreth  up  strife." 

The  German  cruiser  "Augsburg"  has  bombarded 
and  put  Libau  in  Russia  on  fire. 

War  is  a  fact. 

Rumor  has  it  that  a  French  motor  loaded  with 
gold  for  Russia  is  on  its  way  through  the  city  with 
two  women  of  high  degree. 

Secret  police  everywhere. 

Now  in  the  early  night  there  is  a  mob  in  the 
streets  below.  They  are  arresting  Russian  spies 
who  have  secreted  bombs. 

One  feels  as  if  one  was  living  in  old  historic 
times,  in  the  times  one  reads  about,  on  a  quiet 
evening  at  home  and  all  this  has  come  in  just  two 
days. 

August  yd.  Another  busy,  busy  day  wakes  to 
life.  Has  it  ever  slept?  The  tramp,  tramp  of  the 
soldier  boys  is  never  ceasing.    We  must  be  up  and 


24    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

doing.  We  mean  to  bide  our  time  and  then  set  sail 
for  the  "land  of  the  free."  Little  we  know  the 
difficulties  ahead;  but  the  yellow  coin  is  what  we 
most  need  now  to  help  against  haps  and  mishaps, 
that  might  come  in  a  moment's  change  of  events. 
We  pass  the  Russian  Embassy;  the  last  are 
leaving  with  frightened  faces,  as  they  get  into  a 
"Droschke."  A  man,  with  long  dishevelled  hair 
and  beard,  and  the  woman  by  his  side,  are  trem- 
bling for  their  very  lives,  in  the  Unter  den  Linden. 

The  crowd  is  great;  they  gaze  at  these  people 
of  a  hostile  nation;  but  there  is  no  shouting,  no 
hissing,  no  insult — all  is  quiet,  all  is  order.  Re- 
markable. One  gets  the  impression  that  Germans 
have  been  trained  to  attend  to  their  own  busi- 
ness. 

At  the  banks  we  are  astonished  to  find  that  we 
are  cut  off  from  money  as  well  as  from  home.  Our 
Letters-of-Credit  are  not  accepted.  We  go  to  all 
banks  and  meet  with  the  same  refusal,  except  the 
Dresdener,  which  is  doing  its  utmost  to  help  out 
everyone,  even  by  small  amounts,  fifty  to  one- 
hundred  and  fifty  Marks  being  about  the  largest 
sums  given,  a  great  concession  and  accommoda- 
tion. 

Everyone  is  confused  by  this  new  aspect  of 
affairs.  American  Express  Cheques  are  not 
cashed  and  two  women  standing  by  us  having  large 
letters  on  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co.,  London,  are  also 
refused. 

What  does  this  mean?  England  withdrawing 
her  gold,  her  credit. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    25 

One  fears  the  worst, — but  one  can't  give  cred- 
ence to  what  one  fears,  and  I  remember  in  Paris 
on  the  26th  day  of  May  we  could  get  no  gold  in 
change,  the  reason  given,  the  politics,  the  political 
situation.  Was  France  then  mobilizing  her 
finances?    Of  course,  yes. 

The  American  Ambassador  and  Mrs.  Gerard, 
and  the  Embassy  staff  are  working  with  head  and 
heart  to  relieve  and  arrange  the  situation  and  such 
a  strange  situation  it  is.  No  way  to  get  out  of 
the  city  and  no  way  to  live  in  it.  Everyone  is 
caught  unprepared.  It  is  rather  terrifying;  but 
surely  in  a  few  days  things  will  right  themselves. 
However,  it  will  be  very  hard  on  many. 

There  are  women  with  parties  of  as  many  as 
twenty  girls  "seeing  Europe,"  families  with  chil- 
dren, anxious  to  get  them  out  of  the  danger  zone; 
invalids  who  have  come  for  their  health,  bankers 
with  great  interests  at  stake,  aghast,  at  the  prospect ; 
those  with  small  savings  who  have  stinted  for 
many  a  year  to  see  what  they  have  read  about ;  the 
capitalist  off  on  his  vacation,  rich  man,  poor  man, 
all  suddenly  without  funds.  One  cannot  borrow; 
there  is  no  one  to  borrow  from.  Washington  must 
come  to  our  aid,  and,  at  once,  to  cope  with  the 
situation.     Cables  are  sent. 

Out  of  the  counting-house  into  the  street.  At 
this  history-making  time  there  are  many  who  may 
fret  and  fume  over  privations,  and  being  kept  in 
"durance  vile" ;  but  there  are  also  privileges,  one 
must  recognize  and  realize  that  it  is  a  very  wonder- 


26    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

ful  thing  to  be  present  at  the  passing  of  such 
stirring,  epoch-making  events,  and  to  get  the  near 
view-point  of  what  others  will  only  read  of;  for 
it  is  all  beyond  the  dreams  and  dread  of  human 
ken. 

Would  that  I  could  paint  a  picture  that  all  the 
world  might  see. 

The  German  mobilization,  is  one  of  the  greatest 
movements  of  people  that  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
Nearly  four-million  men  have  to  be  transported 
from  every  part  of  the  Empire  to  her  borders. 

There  is  a  hurrying  of  thousands  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  soldiers  and  transporting  of  mate- 
rial of  every  sort. 

German  discipline,  once  so  slandered,  now  cele- 
brates its  triumph. 

There  are  no  deserters,  no  shirkers,  no  cowards, 
and  volunteers  come  in  far  exceeding  the  number 
that  can  be  used.  They  come  from  all  classes,  the 
nobility,  university  students,  farmers,  merchants, 
artists  too  and  singers,  and  from  all  creeds,  the 
Protestants,  the  Catholics,  the  Jews,  the  flower  of 
youth  and  the  boy  scouts,  all  swell  the  ranks,  no 
calling  hangs  back.  What  a  spectacle!  And,  by 
this  time  the  army  is  increased  to  many  times  its 
normal  mobilization. 

If,  this  continues,  only  "les  inutiles"  and  the  too 
young,  and  the  too  old,  will  be  left  behind;  but 
even  they  refuse  to  accept  the — No — and  if,  un- 
successful in  one  regiment,  try  another.  This  is  the 
ardor  of  all  born  under  the  German  flag !    It  is  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    27 

medical  man,  that  some  fear,  and  I  heard  of  a  lad 
to-day  whose  answer  may  go  down  in  history: 

"A  brave  young  lad  of  sixteen  years 

Enlists  like  all  the  rest, 
The  doctor  tells  him  that  he  fears, 
Too  narrow  is  his  chest. 

"  'Tis  broad  enough  to  stop  a  ball, 
'Twill  only  be  my  loss; 
And  if  God  wills,  it's  broad  enough 
To  wear  the  Iron  Cross." 

Can  one  conquer  a  country  made  of  such  stuff? 
No,  ten  thousand  times — No!  So  Germany,  all 
Germany  is  mobilized,  as  well  as  the  Army  and 
Navy.  And  to-day  they  begin  to  march  out  by  the 
thousands,  infantry,  cavalry,  artillery  from  Berlin, 
Potsdam  and  Spandau,  the  garrisons  within  reach, 
and  probably  from  all  the  others  in  Germany. 

The  scene  beggars  description.  They  are  not 
sent  off  with  weeping  and  wailing.  The  streets 
swarm  with  enthusiasts  who  are  tremendously  in 
earnest,  singing  "Deutschland,  Deutschland  iiber 
alles!"  Hat- waving,  hand-waving,  cheers,  as  they 
go  forth,  and  not  one  of  them  thinks  of  death  and 
destruction — but  only  of  victory!  And  so  this 
gigantic  gathering  moves  up  and  down  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  Berlin. 

To  the  call  of  their  leader,  to  the  call  of  the 
trumpet,  to  the  tap  of  drum  and  sound  of  fife  they 
go.  The  battle  cry  is  in  the  air.  And  they  are 
decked  out  so  gaily,  green  leaves  on  their  helmets, 
green  leaves  on  their  coats,  green  on  the  horses' 


28    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

harness,  the  waving  green  greetings  of  Hope.  And 
half-grown  girls  hold  out  handfuls  of  red  roses  to 
these  warriors,  to  wear  on  their  breast  as  they 
march  out  through  the  Brandenburger  Gate,  on 
which  the  bronze  Goddess  of  Victory  upholds 
the  Prussian  Eagle,  smiling  down  a  silent  bene- 
diction. 

All  classes  and  casts  of  regiments  from  the 
Garde-Corps  to  the  Linientruppen,  from  the 
Uhlans,  the  Deathshead  Hussars,  the  Blue  Dra- 
goons to  the  man  in  the  ranks,  all  are  joined  in  one 
common  army  for  one  common  cause. 

The  gay  insignia  of  silver  and  gold,  of  blue,  red, 
of  all  colors,  with  helmets  of  eagles  and  plumes  of 
black,  and  plumes  of  white,  are  transformed  and 
transfigured  into  the  fighting  field  uniform. 

What  master  minds  must  be  at  the  back  of  this 
great  movement  in  the  military  holy-of-holies — 
the  General  Staff?  What  master  builders  to  con- 
struct the  strategy,  the  war  plan,  the  war  map,  the 
all-in-all  of  every  detail  that  is  brought  forth  to 
perfection. 

The  military  has  become  in  these  war  days  the 
Dictator.  To  its  arms  the  country  looks  for  de- 
fence, to  the  army  it  gives  implicit  obedience.  In 
the  most  unimportant  things,  out  on  the  borders, 
here  in  the  cities  the  army  reigns  supreme  and  in 
the  General  Staff,  this  old  building  of  fame  where 
the  great  Moltke  lived  and  died  and  which  will 
stand  for  ever  and  aye,  despite  its  ugliness,  which 
hands  down  from  generation  to  generation  the 
archives  and  prestige  of  its  heroes,  it  is  here,  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    29 

endless  work  by  day  and  by  night  goes  on;  for 
these  men  behind  the  gun  know  no  hours,  no  holi- 
day, in  the  High  Court  of  the  Chief -of -Staff  Gen- 
eral von  Moltke. 

Here  live  and  learn  and  labor  the  mental  army, 
the  mind  army  of  Germany's  Empire.  And  on  the 
outside  all  is  silent.  It  looks  like  some  old  deserted 
building  left  to  its  history  and  memories. 

We  have  just  been  to  the  station,  for  even  as 
strangers  we  want  to  wish  this  mighty  army  host, 
God  speed.  Such  organization  of  tram  and  train. 
Every  man,  everything  has  its  allotted  space  and 
place,  no  pulling  or  pushing,  or  jostling  or  hustling 
as  the  troops  go  on  board  and  it  is  also  well 
ordered  and  orderly,  one  might  believe  that  they  go 
off  to  the  Kaiser  manoeuvres. 

But  it  is  the  women  who  have  come  to  see  their 
men  off  who  have  come  for  the  "Goodbye",  that 
makes  us  shudder  and  shake  for  the  awful  pity  of 
it  all.  Sweethearts  and  wives  that  cling  to  each 
other  to  the  very  end,  to  the  loves  of  their  lives 
with  blanched  faces  and  agonized  eyes,  the  awful 
fate  of  woman,  to  watch  and  wait,  and  many  to 
weep.  The  men  are  of  iron,  there  is  no  quiver  of 
lip,  or  tear  of  eye,  they  are  stern  set  in  every 
nerve  and  muscle,  though  they  give  up  those  they 
hold  most  dear.  Such  Spartan  people,  God  bless 
them  and  their  cause. 

On  the  way  back  we  get  into  crowds  in  the 
Konigsplatz.  What  an  impressive  scene  in  this  im- 
pressive hour.  There  around  the  great  black 
towering  monument  of  Bismarck,  who  has  stood 


30    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

so  firm  for  his  country,  whose  iron  hand  is  still 
felt,  soldiers  and  civilians,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, with  bowed  heads,  kneel  in  prayer,  while  the 
service  for  the  army  is  conducted  in  the  open. 

The  proud  self-reliance  of  the  ancient  Chancellor, 
is  expressed  in  his  attitude,  his  left  hand  holds  the 
sword  firmly  against  his  side  and  the  right  is 
spread  upon  the  Charter  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Empire  and  around  this  figure  of  strength  at  the 
sunset  hour  these  people  congregate  for  the  service 
of  prayer  and  to  ask  a  blessing. 

August  \th.  "Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge."  But  the 
speech,  the  knowledge  is  too  astonishing  and  as- 
tounding for  human  ears  and  hearts  to  believe. 
England  declares  war.  Here  are  the  exchange  of 
telegrams  between  the  ruling  cousins  of  sister 
nations,  the  official  documents  published  by  the 
German  Government.  This  little,  but  important 
pamphlet  is  entitled: — "How  the  Franco-German 
Conflict  Could  Have  Been  Avoided." 

Telegram  of  His  Royal  Highness  Prince  Henry  of 
Prussia  to  H.  M.  the  King  of  England  of  July 
2,oth,  19 14. 

"Am  here  since  yesterday,  have  informed  Wil- 
liam of  what  You  kindly  told  Me  at  Buckingham 
Palace  last  Sunday  who  gratefully  received  Your 
message. 

"William,  much  pre-occupied,  is  trying  his  ut- 
most to  fulfil  Nicolaus'  appeal  to  him  to  work  for 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    31 

maintenance  of  peace  and  is  in  constant  telegraphic 
communication  with  Nicolaus  who  to-day  confirms 
news  that  military  measures  have  been  ordered  by 
him  equal  to  mobilization,  measures  which  have 
been  taken  already  five  days  ago. 

"We  are  furthermore  informed  that  France  is 
making  military  preparations  whereas  we  have 
taken  no  measures,  but  may  be  forced  to  do  so  any 
moment  should  our  neighbors  continue,  which 
then  would  mean  a  European  war. 

"If  You  really  and  earnestly  wish  to  prevent  this 
terrible  disaster,  may  I  suggest  You  using  Your 
influence  on  France  and  also  Russia  to  keep  neutral 
which  seems  to  Me  would  be  most  useful. 

"This  I  consider  a  very  good  perhaps  the  only 
chance,  to  maintain  the  peace  of  Europe. 

"I  may  add  that  now  more  than  ever  Germany 
and  England  should  lend  each  other  mutual  help 
to  prevent  a  terrible  catastrophe,  which  otherwise 
seems  unavoidable. 

"Believe  me  that  William  is  most  sincere  in  his 
endeavors  to  maintain  peace,  but  that  the  military 
preparations  of  his  two  neighbors  may  at  last 
force  him  to  follow  their  example  for  the  safety  of 
his  own  country,  which  otherwise  would  remain 
defenceless. 

"I  have  informed  William  of  My  telegram  to 
You  and  hope  You  will  receive  My  information  in 
the  same  spirit  of  friendship  which  suggested  them. 

[signed]     "Henry." 


32    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Telegram  of  H.  M.  the  King  of  England  to  Prince 
Henry  of  Prussia  of  July  30th,  1914. 

"Thanks  for  Your  telegram  so  pleased  to  hear 
of  William's  efforts  to  concert  with  Nicolaus  to 
maintain  peace.  Indeed  I  am  earnestly  desirous 
that  such  an  irreparable  disaster  as  a  European  war 
should  be  averted.  My  Government  is  doing  its  ut- 
most suggesting  to  Russia  and  France  to  suspend 
further  military  preparations  if  Austria  will  con- 
sent to  be  satisfied  with  occupation  of  Belgrade 
and  neighboring  Servian  territory  as  a  hostage 
for  satisfactory  settlement  of  her  demands,  other 
countries  meanwhile  suspending  their  war  prepara- 
tions. Trust  William  will  use  his  great  influence 
to  induce  Austria  to  accept  this  proposal,  thus  prov- 
ing that  Germany  and  England  are  working  to- 
gether to  prevent  what  would  be  an  international 
catastrophe.  Pray  assure  William  I  am  doing  and 
shall  continue  to  do  all  that  lies  in  My  power  to 
preserve  peace  of  Europe. 

[signed]     "George.' 


» 


Telegram  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  to  H.  M. 
the  King  of  England  of  July  31st,  1914. 

"Many  thanks  for  kind  telegram.  Your  pro- 
posals coincide  with  My  ideas  and  with  the  state- 
ments I  got  this  night  from  Vienna  which  I  have 
had  forwarded  to  London.  I  just  received  news 
from  chancellor  that  official  notification  has  just 
reached  him  that  this  night  Nicolaus  has  ordered 


The  Crown  Prince  of  Germany 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    33 

the  mobilization  of  his  whole  army  and  fleet.  He 
has  not  even  awaited  the  results  of  the  mediation 
I  am  working  at  and  left  Me  without  any  news. 
/  am  off  for  Berlin  to  take  measures  for  ensuring 
safety  of  My  eastern  frontiers  where  strong  Rus- 
sian troops  are  already  posted. 

[signed]    "William." 

Telegram  of  the  King  of  England  to  His  Majesty 
the  Emperor,  of  August  ist,  1914. 

"Many  thanks  for  Your  telegram  last  night.  I 
sent  an  urgent  telegram  to  Nicolaus  expressing  My 
readiness  to  do  everything  in  My  power  to  assist 
in  re-opening  conversations  between  powers  con- 
cerned. 

[signed]     "George. 


» 


Telegram  of  the  German  Ambassador  in  London 
to  the  Chancellor,  of  August  ist,  19 14. 

"Sir  E.  Grey  just  asked  me  by  telephone  whether 
I  believed  to  be  in  a  position  to  declare  that  we 
would  not  attack  France  in  a  war  between  Ger- 
many and  Russia  in  case  France  should  remain 
neutral.  I  declared  I  believed  to  be  able  to  give 
such  an  understanding. 

[signed]     "Lichnowsky." 


34    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Telegram  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor  to  H.  M. 
the  King  of  England  of  August  ist,  19 14. 

"I  just  received  the  communication  from  your 
government  offering  French  neutrality  under  guar- 
antee of  Great  Britain.  Added  to  this  offer  was 
the  enquiry  whether  under  such  conditions  Ger- 
many would  refrain  from  attacking  France.  On 
technical  grounds  My  mobilization  which  had 
already  been  proclaimed  this  afternoon  must  pro- 
ceed against  two  fronts  east  and  west  as  prepared ; 
this  cannot  be  countermanded  because  I  am  sorry 
Your  telegram  came  so  late.  But  if  France  offers 
me  neutrality  which  must  be  guaranteed  by  the 
British  fleet  and  army  I  shall  of  course  refrain 
from  attacking  France  and  employ  My  troops  else- 
where. I  hope  that  France  will  not  become  ner- 
vous. My  troops  on  My  frontier  are  in  the  act  of 
being  stopped  by  telegraph  and  telephone  from 
crossing  into  France." 

Telegram  of  the  Chancellor  to  the  German  Ambas- 
sador in  London  of  August  1st,  1914. 

"Germany  is  ready  to  accept  British  proposal  in 
case  England  guarantees  with  all  her  forces  abso- 
lute neutrality  of  France  in  Russo-German  conflict. 
German  mobilization  has  been  ordered  to-day  on 
account  of  Russian  challenge  before  English  pro- 
posal was  known  here.  It  is  therefore  now  impos- 
sible to  make  any  change  in  strategical  distribution 
of  troops  ordered  to  the  French  frontier.    But  we 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    35 

guarantee  that  our  troops  will  not  cross  the  French 
frontier  before  J  p.m.  on  Monday  the  2>rd  inst.,  in 
case  England  will  pledge  herself  meanwhile. 

[signed]     "Bethmann  Hollweg." 

Telegram  of  H.  M.  the  King  of  England  to  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  August  ist,  1914. 

"In  answer  to  Your  telegram  just  received  I 
think  there  must  be  some  misunderstanding  as  to 
a  suggestion  that  passed  in  friendly  conversation 
between  Prince  Lichnowsky  and  Sir  Edward  Grey 
this  afternoon  when  they  were  discussing  how 
actual  fighting  between  German  and  French  armies 
might  be  avoided  while  there  is  still  a  chance  of 
some  agreement  between  Austria  and  Russia.  Sir 
Edward  Grey  will  arrange  to  see  Prince  Lichnow- 
sky early  to-morrow  morning  to  ascertain  whether 
there  is  a  misunderstanding  on  his  part. 

[signed]     "George." 

Telegram  of  the  German  Ambassador  in  London 
to  the  Chancellor,  of  August  2nd,  1914. 

"Sir  E.  Grey's  suggestions  were  prompted  by  a 
desire  to  make  it  possible  for  England  to  keep  per- 
manent neutrality,  but  as  they  were  not  based  on  a 
previous  understanding  with  France  and  made 
without  knowledge  of  our  mobilization,  they  have 
been  abandoned  as  absolutely  hopeless. 

[signed]     "Lichnowsky." 


36    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  essence  of  Germany's  declarations  is  con- 
tained in  Emperor  William's  telegram  to  the  King 
of  England  of  August  ist,  1914.  Even  if  there 
existed  a  misunderstanding  as  to  an  English  pro- 
posal, the  Kaiser's  offer  furnished  England  the 
opportunity  to  prove  her  pacific  disposition  and  to 
prevent  the  Franco-German  war. 


The  thoughtful  reader  cannot  help  but  realize 
that  this  awful  world-wide  catastrophe  might  have 
been  averted  if  these  three  blood-related  kings, 
each  with  his  separate  Chancellor  and  army  chief 
had  met  face  to  face  and  talked  head  to  head  and 
heart  to  heart. 

Human  nature,  human  passions  are  the  most 
subtle  factor  in  life  and  have  built  and  have  broken 
dynasties  and  cannot  be  reckoned  with  over  wires. 
They  are  too  potent  and  powerful,  they  out-do 
state-craft  and  undo  international  law  and  he  who 
counts  without  this  reckoning  is  lost. 

The  revenge  of  France,  the  greed  of  Russia,  the 
jealousy  of  England  formed  the  Entente  that  sets 
forth  to  confuse  and  confound  the  nations  of  the 
world,  to  sacrifice  the  life-blood  of  nations,  to  de- 
plete treasuries,  to  destroy  commerce,  to  work  high 
havoc  from  east  to  west. 

To-day  German  troops  are  in  Belgium  the 
neutral  hallway  into  France.  Why  break  the 
neutrality?     Under  what  law  of  God  or  man? 

But  Germany,  as  the  world  will  some  day  know, 
is  not  the  guilty  party.     French  troops  are  known 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    37 

to  be  massed  on  the  Belgian  frontier.  Why — if 
France  does  not  mean  to  enter  for  her  own  end 
and  aim?  This  is  proof  positive  and  there  is  no 
time  for  dallying  further  with  treaties.  It  is  a  life 
and  death  question.  Besides,  French  aviators  have 
flown  across  the  then  neutral  Belgium  to  carry  out 
warlike  plans  against  the  lower  Rhine  districts  of 
Germany  and  appear  above  unfortified  cities  in 
South  Germany  seeking  by  throwing  bombs  to 
destroy  the  railways.  French  officers,  disguised  in 
German  uniforms  try  to  cross  the  Belgian-German 
frontier  to  destroy  German  institutions  in  German 
territory.  Who  breaks  the  laws  of  neutrality?  By 
all  this,  Germany  is  forced  to  act,  for  her  own 
protection. 

It  is  really  a  very  life  and  death  question  and 
already  she  has  lost  two  days  in  mobilization  to 
give  peace  negotiations  every  chance. 

However,  it  will  be  suicidal  to  hesitate  further! 

Germany  would  have  exposed  itself  to  a  military 
defeat  if  it  had  still  respected  the  neutrality  of  Bel- 
gium after  it  had  been  announced  that  strong 
French  detachments  stand  ready  to  march  through 
the  country  against  the  advancement  of  the  German 
army. 

"He  who  runs  may  read,"  and  in  the  end  fair 
judgment  will  be  given  to  this  puzzling,  perplexing 
question  of  right  and  wrong,  for  there  can  be  no 
question,  there  can  be  only  one  verdict.  If  the 
game  is  not  a  fair  game,  then  a  move  must  be  taken 
against  an  unfair  one.  From  boy  to  man  there  will 
be  but  one  answer. 


38    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Thus  Germany  was  compelled,  with  great  reluc- 
tance to  decide  to  request  Belgium  to  allow  the 
German  troops  to  march  through  Belgian  territory. 

The  Belgian  Government  was  assured  that  its  in- 
terests would  be  conscientiously  guarded,  that  she 
was  to  be  indemnified  after  the  war,  and  to  retain 
her  integrity  and  sovereignty. 

Belgium  protested,  at  the  same  time  allowing, 
that  by  an  agreement  with  France  the  French 
troops  might  enter  Belgium.  After  this,  and  not 
until  France  and  Belgium  had  broken  the  neutrality 
did  the  German  army  enter. 

There  was  nothing  Germany  wanted  of  the  Bel- 
gians but  she  had  to  prevent  it  being  used  as  a 
gate  of  entrance  to  German  territory.  Belgium's 
answer  to  this  assurance  was  refusal,  or  declara- 
tion of  war.  Not  a  wise  act  but  within  formal 
rights,  so  Germany  after  doing  all  in  her  power  is 
forced  by  the  action  of  France  to  strike  and  strike 
quickly,  to  fight  for  her  life. 

Through  all  this  Germany  had  a  firm  belief  in 
Great  Britain's  love  of  peace,  but  Great  Britain 
asks  in  return  for  her  neutrality  that  the  German 
forces  should  not  enter  Belgium,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  in  other  words  asks  that  Germany  should 
allow  French  and  Belgian  troops  to  form  on  Bel- 
gian territory  and  march  against  her  frontier,  asks 
that  England  remaining  neutral  should  take  the 
right  to  put  the  weapons  safely  in  the  enemy's 
hand. 

How  could  such  a  proposition  be  entertained? 
The  situation  was  untenable,  but  Germany,  nothing 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    39 

discouraged,  still  earnestly  continued  efforts  for 
peace  and  made  England  the  following  offers  for 
her  neutrality,  viz :  That  Germany  would  leave  un- 
molested the  maritime  commerce  of  France  and  not 
attack  the  Northern  Coast,  indemnify  Belgium  and 
safe-guard  its  sovereignty. 

In  spite  of  all  this  Great  Britain  declares  war  on 
Germany,  and  sides  to-day  with  those  Continental 
powers,  who  have  united  for  Germany's  destruc- 
tion in  order  that  Muscovite  barbarism  may  rule 
Europe. 

It  is  plain  that  both  France  and  Russia  desire 
to  give  to  Germany  the  appearance  of  having 
broken  the  peace.  Did  Germany  ever  want  war? 
ever  want  to  break  the  peace? 

One  arrives  at  an  argument, — "if  there's  a  will, 
there's  a  way." 

There  were  no  end  of  excuses,  before  the  tragedy 
in  Sarajevo  brought  its  consequences,  that  Germany 
could  have  used  as  a  pretext  to  bring  about  war, 
if  war  was  the  thing  she  was  looking  for.  But 
Eternal  Peace  was  the  ambition  of  the  Emperor 
and  the  German  people.  He  and  his  subjects 
had  but  one  aim:  The  peace  and  prosperity  of 
Europe. 

Let  us  look  at  the  Monarchs  of  Europe. 

Who  can  show  greater  capacities,  larger  views, 
and  greater  love  of  peaceful  progress  than  the 
German  Emperor? 

He  has  been  ruling  for  twenty-five  years,  and  all 


40    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

this  time  has  had  the  power  of  beginning  war,  at 
any  moment,  and  yet,  this  is  his  first  war.  The 
time  of  his  reign  has  also  been  the  period  of  the 
greatest,  uninterrupted  progress  of  Germany,  of 
a  progress  so  great  that  it  has  astounded  the  whole 
world. 

What  other  ruler  can  equal  his  record? 

And  from  what  we  know  of  the  Germans,  in 
our  own  country,  they  would  not,  one  and  all, 
gather  around  their  Kaiser  unless  he  suited  them. 

With  the  peasant  gathering  in  the  summer's 
plentiful  crop,  the  factory-hand  working  with  ac- 
customed vigor,  with  the  industrial  life,  in  full 
swing,  and  commerce  on  land  and  on  high  seas, 
bringing  great  gains,  with  envy  and  malice  towards 
none,  and  no  canker  in  the  heart  of  her  rose,  why 
should  Germany,  successful  at  home  and  abroad, 
wish  to  take  up  arms  and  imperil  her  kingdom, 
except  for  her  own  defence?  Why  stake  all  to 
gain  nothing? 

If,  even  after  strenuous  struggle  she  saves  her 
life,  she  pays  a  very  dear  price,  in  blood  and  coin, 
but  it  is  verily,  for  her  very  life.  She  is  attacked 
and  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  enemies  and  last, 
but  not  least,  stands  England.  England!  Who 
speaks  the  white  man's  language  turns  against  her 
kith  and  kin.  What  a  blot  on  the  world's  history, 
what  a  blow  to  civilization.  A  house  divided 
against  itself  must  fall.  Sir  Edward  Grey  may 
scheme  his  schemes,  Lord  Kitchener  may  plan  his 
warfare;  but,  there  is  no  good  in  it  for  them;  for 
Germany's  sword  is  clean  and  King  George  in  his 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    41 

early  reign  looks  down  on  a  great  wrong  done  and 
the  world  of  the  white  man  is  silent  with  shame. 

It  is  a  sorry  scheme  of  things;  it  strangles  hope 
for  the  civilization  of  the  peoples  of  the  world. 
And  England,  is  the  Lord  High  Executioner,  she 
who  raises  high  her  church  steeples,  who  sends 
forth  her  missionaries  and  plants  her  colonies  in 
wilds  and  jungles, — by  this  single  act  forfeits  her 
supremacy  absolutely  as  a  Christian  nation  and  can 
no  more  sing  her  "Onward  Christian  Soldiers." 
She  has  cast,  her  lot  with  the  Philistines. 


The  war  meeting  in  Parliament  has  to-day  given 
prompt  and  quick  arrangement  for  the  ways  and 
means  of  this  warfare  and  five  milliard  Marks 
credit  is  unanimously  appropriated. 

Everything  moves  so  quickly  and  quietly  that  it 
is  difficult  to  realize  that  now  in  eighteen  hours 
three-hundred  and  eighty  thousand  reserves  are 
leaving  with  artillery,  and  six-thousand  horses  are 
passing  through  the  streets  to  be  transported.  Pro- 
cession after  procession  of  wagons  with  field  guns 
and  war  ammunition,  drawn  by  four  horses  with 
the  green  leaves  bobbing  on  their  heads  and  green 
branches  decorating  the  heavy  projectiles  are 
heavily  dragged  through  the  streets  to  be  shipped 
to  the  borders. 

And,  the  great  vanguard  moves  on  and  on, — such 
system  prevails.  And  system  must  win  every  day. 
The  regiments  marching  in  are  greeted,  the  regi- 
ments marching  out  are  sent  off  with  joyful  songs. 


42    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

At  the  Embassy  we  get  the  news  that  England 
has  cut  the  cables  to  America.  Thus  we  are  abso- 
lutely cut  off  and  almost  panic  prevails;  but  there 
is  a  rumor  that  a  warship  with  officers  and  gold 
has  been  sent  to  help  us.  How  we  will  welcome 
the  flag  of  Stars  and  Stripes.  But  all  strangers  in 
Berlin  and  especially  Americans  are  receiving  only 
kindness  and  the  most  courteous  treatment  and 
every  effort  is  being  made  to  extend  every  hospi- 
tality and  comfort.  There  is  not  one  complaint. 
Hotels  and  pensions  open  wide  their  doors  and 
there  is  no  question  of  payment  until  relief  comes. 
What  more  could  one  ask  for? 

The  Belgian  Minister  is  leaving  his  Legation 
which  is  filled  with  art  treasures  and  there  is  much 
commotion  at  the  British  Embassy,  for  Sir  Edward 
Goschen  leaves  to-night.  It  is  late  now  in  the 
evening  when  he  is  to  get  off.  There  is  a  large 
crowd  under  our  windows  for  the  Embassy  is  near. 
All  of  a  sudden  there  is  great  indignation  and 
angry  surging  back  and  forth  of  what  comes  nearer 
to  a  mob  than  anything  we  have  seen.  There  is 
unrest  in  the  streets,  now  black  with  a  dense  mass 
of  humanity,  controlling  a  suppressed  fury  towards 
England  and  the  Englishman.  A  member  of  the 
British  Embassy  selects  this  critical  moment  to  fling 
open  the  windows  and  toss  copper  coins  on  the 
heads  of  "these  patient  dogs  of  Germany,"  crying 
out,  "Take  this  you  German  beggars,"  and  pelting 
them  with  empty  cigarette  boxes.  How  useless, 
how  unnecessary,  how  insulting !  Their  fury  knows 
no  bounds.     Many  a  stone  is  hurled  at  windows, 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    43 

and  facade,  before  the  mounted  police  can  divide 
and  scatter  them  and  then  they  surround  the  Hotel 
Adlon  where  the  secret  police  are  arresting  Eng- 
lish citizens  and  the  correspondent  of  the  "Daily 
Mail." 

England's  declaration  of  war  is  to  Germany 
the  unkindest  cut  of  all,  all  feel  and  say  "Et  tu 
Brute." 

August  $th.  The  whole  wide  world  stands  dumb- 
founded and  confounded  before  such  a  catastrophe. 
Five  great  nations  of  Europe,  Austria-Hungary, 
Russia,  Germany,  France,  England,  with  swords 
unsheathed,  stand  ready  for  the  mightiest  conflict 
ever  known  in  the  history  of  man. 

It  is  just  forty-four  years  ago  in  this  same  month 
since  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  which  we  read  of 
and  think  of  with  horror.  The  Avenue  des  Morts 
tells  the  story  and  that  war  dwindles  into  a  pigmy 
of  battles  compared  with  the  giant  forces  of  diverse 
tongues  and  nations  which  are  to  fight  out  to  the 
bitter  end  the  Supremacy  of  Race. 

The  old  Field  Marshall  von  Moltke  said  after  the 
war  of  1870-71  that  the  Germans  would  have  to 
defend  Alsace-Lorraine  for  fifty  years  more  and 
Bismarck  prophesied  this  war-cry;  but  neither  one 
nor  the  other,  though  both  soldier  and  statesman, 
could  conjure  up  in  their  wildest  dreams  such  a 
conflict  as  will  gather  on  the  plains,  on  the  borders, 
in  these  coming  weeks. 

Mind  of  mortal  man  fails  to  grasp  the  greatness 
of  it,  heart  of  man  quails  at  the  awfulness  of  it. 

Germany  is  absolutely   surrounded  by  enemies. 


44    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

She  is  edged  in  by  hostile  forces  on  all  sides.  She 
is  like  the  stag  at  bay  with  the  hounds  in  full  pur- 
suit, but  from  Konigsberg  to  Constance,  from  Up- 
per Silesia  to  the  Belgium  frontier,  from  all  the 
multitudes  there  is  no  murmur  of  the  faint  heart, 
no  feeling  of  fear. 

It  is,  "no  such  word  as  fail,"  one  reads  in  their 
bright  blue  eyes  and  decided  faces. 

There  is  an  old  saying  in  Germany  that  "He  who 
is  strong  and  stands  alone  is  mightiest,"  and  verily 
Germany  and  her  only  Ally  stand  alone. 

Women  offer  their  services  to  the  Red  Cross, 
and  the  boys,  just  the  half -grown  boys  form  as 
boy-scouts  to  take  the  field,  to  carry  the  wounded, 
to  wait  on  nurses,  to  do  the  million  and  one  things 
where  their  fleet  young  feet  can  relieve  the  work 
of  men  and  women. 

The  Germans  are  known  far  and  wide  to  be  a 
sentimental  people.  It  is  this,  deep  down,  deep- 
rooted  in  their  hearts,  the  deep  sentiment  of  the 
home,  of  the  country  that  sends  sends  them  on 
their  way  in  such  calmness  to  do  the  serious  work 
that  lies  before  them.  Consequently,  there  is  no 
excitement ;  there  are  no  excesses,  no  street  brawls, 
no  disputes,  as  far  as  the  populace  goes  all  is  quiet 
as  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  peace  time. 

They  laugh,  they  joke  with  the  children  that  run 
by  their  side,  they  all  sing  "Lieb'  Vaterland,  magst 
ruhig  sein!" 

It  is  almost  a  joyful  sight,  big  dogs,  little  dogs, 
with  bows  of  ribbon,  of  black,  white  and  red,  scam- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    45 

per  about.  The  street  vendors  sell  their  flags,  the 
newsboys  shout  the  war  news,  and  the  crowd  fol- 
lows and  among  them  hurry  swiftly  the  police  and 
the  young  officers,  the  jeunesse  doree  of  Berlin, 
the  pampered  darlings  of  fashion,  they  who  have 
loved  rose  leaves  and  rose  notes,  who  have  dillied 
and  dallied  with  pleasure,  the  sybarite  in  his  youth 
and  beauty,  the  lotus-eater,  who  is  to  prove  that 
underneath  the  kid-glove  is  the  hand  of  steel. 

All  these  make  up  the  motley  strong  and  the 
shop-keeper  who  has  offered  his  wares  under 
French  and  English  names  is  busy  covering  them 
with  the  German  flag  and  hotels  are  tearing  down 
their  signs.  Hotel  Bristol  becomes  Hotel  Uhl, 
and  so  on.  One  sees  many  amusing  as  well  as 
many  sad  sights  in  the  Berlin  of  to-day. 

There  is  victorious  fighting  already  with  the 
Russians  and  the  towns  in  Algeria  are  bombarded 
by  German  warships.  Algeria  with  its  "foreign 
legion"  and  French  troops  that  may  be  transported 
to  the  aid  of  France  and  Montenegro  declares  war 
on  Austria. 

The  Emperor  orders  a  Day  of  Prayer  in  Berlin 
and  Potsdam  and  thousands  of  troops  kneel  in 
divine  service,  while  the  royal  families  attend  ser- 
vices in  the  Dom.  It  was  Germany  that  gave  the 
Bible  to  the  world  through  Luther  and  Luther's 
belief  and  words  "Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott" 
runs  strong  through  them  like  the  web  through  the 
woof. 

There  is  the  new  founding  of  the  Iron  Cross  by 
the  German  Emperor  originally  given  by  Frederic 


46    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Wm.  Ill  in  the  War  of  Liberty  against  Napoleon 
I,  for  great  bravery  and  merit  "more  honor  to 
wear  iron  than  gold,"  and  many  an  old  soldier  of 
fame  saunters  through  the  streets  wearing  his  badge 
of  courage,  regretting  his  white  hairs  and  aged 
years  that  hold  him  back  from  the  front  and  many 
a  young  one,  yet  unknown  to  the  smoke  and  din 
of  battle,  secretly  cherishes  the  hope  that  the  day 
will  not  be  far  distant  when  he,  too,  can  wear  it 
on  his  coat. 

And  in  another  way  there  is  a  flare-back  to  the 
iron  age  for  they  carry  their  patriotism  into  the 
heart  of  their  homes  and  sacrifice  themselves  per- 
sonally to  an  extent  that  has  not  been  seen  in  the 
world  since  the  Frederick  the  Great's  times.  A 
society  that  is  formed  "Gold  gab  ich  fur  Eisen" 
(I  give  gold  for  iron),  is  an  example  of  this,  as  it 
received  five-thousand  wedding-rings  to-day  to  be 
melted  down,  the  proceeds  to  be  devoted  to  the 
alleviation  of  the  sick  and  wounded  all  over  the 
country. 

Depots  have  been  opened  up  where  all  kinds  of 
articles  have  been  received  as  subscriptions  in  aid 
of  those  at  war  and  these  depots  are  crammed  with 
material  some  of  which  is  most  valuable.  The  of- 
fers of  service  made  voluntarily  by  those  not  called 
upon  to  serve  already  exceed  one-million  four- 
hundred  thousand.  There  are  families  where 
eighteen  members  or  more  are  all  serving  in  the 
ranks. 

Every  moment  now  brings  new  fears.  Italy  is 
silent,   Holland,   Scandinavia  and   Spain,  neutral. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    47 

What  will  the  man  in  the  White  House  do,  across 
the  seas? 

The  natural  sympathy  of  America  and  Ameri- 
cans should  go  over  to  the  German  side,  for  there 
are  about  sixteen  millions,  who  have  made  their 
home  with  us,  useful  and  prosperous  citizens  and 
influential  men.  There  is  no  other  foreign  coun- 
try which  can  boast  of  this,  both  North  and  South 
of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line.  But  every  true  Amer- 
ican here  is  uneasy  as  to  how  far  the  American 
press  will  be  influenced  by  England  and  France  and 
how  far  the  public  will  be  influenced  by  the  Press. 
For  by  England's  cutting  of  the  cables  or  taking 
possession  of  them,  no  German  description  of  what 
has  actually  occurred  can  be  sent.  Germany  is 
shut  off,  with  a  hedge  from  the  outside  world  and 
all  the  news  that  American  officials  will  get  is  sup- 
plied by  Germany's  enemies. 

So  American  newspapers  will  most  likely,  give 
out  false  and  absurd  reports  and  we  can  only  hope 
that  they  will  wait  until  German  information  can 
get  to  them  before  giving  their  judgment,  for  this 
is  a  war  where  the  head  of  our  nation  and  our 
nation's  policy  may  demand  a  strict  neutrality,  but 
also  where  a  great  country,  with  a  great  people 
with  a  conglomerate  population,  will  voice  their 
feelings  somehow. 

So  Germany  fights  to-day  for  her  very  existence, 
she  will  fight  knowing  the  great  powers  beyond  the 
ocean  will  do  her  justice  as  soon  as  they  know  the 
truth.  Many  will  think  that  our  America,  the  El- 
dorado so  far  away  across  the  seas,  is  the  only 


48    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

country  not  to  be  affected  by  this  general  European 
war  and  that  more  gold  than  ever  before  will 
flow  to  its  shores  like  the  honey  from  the  honey- 
comb. 

How  thoughtless.  If  they  only  stop  to  consider 
that  our  import  and  export  trade  will  be  cut  off, 
then  they  can  calculate  the  final  effect  on  our 
trade. 

But  the  new  Germany  has  made  great  commercial 
advancement.  As  a  result  of  its  agricultural  econ- 
omy and  intensive  farming,  it  is  to-day,  the  third 
largest  agricultural  country  in  the  world.  And  in 
coal  and  iron  it  is  second  only  to  America,  the 
Government-owned  railroads  bring  in  a  higher  rev- 
enue than  those  of  England  and  France,  and  for 
forty  years  this  nation  has  concentrated  all  its 
energies  on  peaceful  industry.  So  Germany's  for- 
eign trade  is  great  and  she  purchases  from  the 
United  States  more  than  any  other  country  in  the 
world. 

Her  imports  from  our  country  to-day  stands  to 
the  figure  of  $430,000,000  and  her  exports  to  us 
nearly  $180,000,000. 

War,  however,  means  the  ruin  of  commerce  and 
if  peace  is  not  soon  established  our  golden  America 
will  suffer  greatly.  One  can  readily  see  that  the 
last  days  of  July  were  days  of  anxiety  and  distress 
for  the  German  people ;  they  hoped  that  they  would 
be  permitted  to  preserve  an  honorable  peace ;  but  on 
the  fourth  of  August,  on  the  Anniversary  of  the 
Battle  of  Weissenburg  and  Spichern,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  German  people  met,  and  this  ses- 


Kaiser  Francis  Joseph 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    49 

sion,  which  lasted  only  a  few  hours  proved  worthy 
of  the  great  historical  moment  that  marked  the 
beginning  of  such  a  conflagration  as  the  world  has 
never  seen. 

So,  if  this  be  a  sorry  time  for  one  country  in 
Europe,  it  is  also  one  for  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Before  and  above  all,  we  preach,  the  same  doctrine 
of  humanity  and  forbearance,  "Live  and  let  live." 
We  should  be  fast  and  firm  friends,  by  election  and 
predilection. 

And  it  is  not  only  profit,  but  pleasure  too,  that 
we  take  out  of  the  German  Empire,  now  so  hard 
pressed.  Music,  the  opera,  the  concert,  science  and 
learning,  in  diverse  ways,  are  to  be  counted  to  our 
gain,  and  we  also  lose  from  the  Dual  Monarchy. 
Kreisler,  the  Austrian  violinist,  with  his  magic  of 
music,  who  has  gone  to  show  that  he  can  play  with 
the  sword  as  well  as  with  the  fiddle  and  the  bow, 
and  Nickisch,  the  Hungarian,  the  wizard  of  the 
orchestra,  who  has  worked  his  way  back  in  a  cattle 
wagon  from  Ostend,  and  men  of  learning  and  re- 
search have  dropped  archives  and  alchemy  to  take 
the  sabre. 

Can  we  not,  just  for  once,  look  ahead,  and  see 
that  Germany's  battle  is  our  battle  and  that  her 
victory  and  her  defeat  mean  our  victory  and  de- 
feat too? 

August  6th.  We  are  in  a  strange  position, 
strangers  in  a  strange  land!  Thrown  by  chance 
and  circumstance,  in  the  capital  of  a  country  at 
war  with  half  the  world  our  individual  lives  has 
come  to  an  abrupt  end  and  for  our  interest  and 


50    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

occupation  we  must  be  alive  and  awake  to  the  pass- 
ing of  the  days  and  cast  in  our  lot  with  those 
about  us. 

Berlin  is  a  moving  war-camp.  At  the  general 
shipping  head-quarters,  it  looks  like  a  great  busy- 
ant-hill.  Everything  that  is  needful  and  necessary 
for  soldier-life  and  camp-life  is  mobilized  here  and 
sent  off.  Wagons  of  blankets  and  cloths  and 
bandages  for  the  Red  Cross,  the  old  time  uniform 
being  cleaned  for  new  recruits  and  field  bakeries 
and  field  kitchens  prepared  for  the  field,  besides 
wagons  upon  wagons  of  loaves  of  bread,  square 
bread,  long  bread,  and  one  sees  almost  a  sea  of 
grain-wagons  heaped  high  and  there  are  many 
wagons  of  hay,  and  the  horses,  sway  up  and  down, 
over  the  city  streets. 

Nothing  is  forgotten,  the  Ways-and-Means  Com- 
mittee, intends  that  the  soldier  boy  and  the  horse 
that  carries  him  are  to  be  well  provided  for.  One 
can  spend  hours  watching  the  processions  and  the 
precision  of  this  gigantic  undertaking  as  they  get 
all  in  readiness  for  transportation. 

There  are  ammunition  cars  with  their  deadly 
weapons  and  the  long,  queer-shaped  things  that 
carry  the  apparatus  for  telegraph  and  wireless, 
wagons  that  carry  the  material  for  pontoons,  for 
bridges,  ambulance  cars  for  the  wounded,  horses, 
droves  of  horses  that  come  from  East  Prussia  to 
the  Western  border  from  Schleswig-Holstein  and 
Hanover,  and  coal  is  being  transported  to  the  war- 
ships. 

And  as  we  thread  our  way  in  and  out  of  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    51 

streets  we  meet  the  lancers  on  horseback  and  an 
infantry  regiment  with  music,  whole  cities  of  men 
and  material  on  the  move  to  the  trains  miles  long, 
destined  for  distant  frontiers  and  the  grey  motors 
of  the  General  Staff,  with  their  far-calling,  far- 
crying  trumpet,  announce  the  approach  and  give  the 
right-of-way  over  all  traffic  to  the  army. 

There  are  no  unforeseen  accidents  or  incidents. 
Military  trains  arrive  at  the  stations  with  no  delays 
and  the  tremendous  problems  on  hand  seem  never 
to  be  problems  at  all,  so  smoothly  and  successfully 
is  everything,  to  the  merest  detail,  carried  out. 

Head  work  and  hand  work  has  been  going  on 
unremittingly  all  the  day  long.  When  one  force 
gives  out  another  is  ready  to  take  its  place  and  the 
result  is  a  perfect  army. 

The  streets  make  a  busy  scene,  the  cafes  are 
open,  and  they  play  the  national  airs,  but,  the  men 
who  made  the  music  are  gone  and  women  take 
their  places,  and  an  army  of  women  workers  come 
forth,  the  women  who  have  been  left  behind  and 
now  we  have  women  orchestras,  women  on  the 
street  cars  and  girl  vendors  of  German  flags  and 
badges  of  American  stars  and  stripes. 

The  horses  of  the  Royal  Mews  go  by,  exercised 
by  the  top-hatted,  gorgeously  apparelled  grooms, 
horses  of  race,  bowed  neck,  satin-skinned,  Arabian 
strain,  prancing  in  pride,  so  soon  to  go  to  face  the 
cannon  mouth. 

And,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Linden,  is  a  swarm 
of   yellow   dragon-flies,   the   flying   machines,   the 


52    WAR  DIARY  OP  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

aeroplanes,  moving  on  trucks  to  take  their  flight  in 
the  air  and  look  down  as  the  moon  and  stars  from 
above  on  the  bivouac  of  the  enemy. 

We  stop  at  the  Embassy  for  news.  The  same 
untiring  work  goes  on,  the  same  unending  patience, 
the  State  Department  at  Washington  can  be  well 
pleased  with  its  place  and  people. 

An  officer  ready  for  the  field  calls,  the  Em- 
bassy was  once  his  home,  he  asks  for  the  privilege 
to  go  into  the  private  rooms,  where  his  father  and 
mother  died  to  make  his  prayer  before  he  goes  to 
battle. 

August  16th.  In  the  history  of  the  world  the 
month  of  August,  19 14,  will  stand  blood-red  on  its 
pages.  Pen  cannot  write,  word  cannot  tell,  in  this 
present  time,  of  all  that  takes  place  to-day,  but 
many  a  future  historian  will  chronicle  authentic, 
historic  events  to  show  to  those  who  are  left  to 
live  on  the  appaling  scenes  and  happenings  of  these 
awful  days. 

Towards  the  evening  hours  there  is  always  a 
rush  to  the  offices  of  the  "Lokal  Anzeiger"  which 
publish  in  the  windows  a  list  of  official  telegrams. 
If  it  is  good  news  there  is  a  cheer,  and  even  the 
children  go  through  the  streets  singing.  If  it  is 
discouraging,  or  no  news  at  all,  they  go  quietly  and 
silently  on  their  way.  There  are  also  the  big  war 
maps  in  the  windows  on  which  are  pinned  the  flags 
of  the  countries  at  war  to  show  the  position,  the 
advance  or  retreat  of  the  different  armies,  just  as 
at  sea  we  study  the  course  of  a  ship,  and  one  can 
hardly  push  through  the  crowds  that  are  anxiously 


/ 
WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    53 

waiting  for  news  and  anxiously  studying  the  course 
of  events. 

These  have  been  very  eventful  days,  they  have 
brought  to  Germany  her  first  victory,  for  the  Ger- 
man army  decided  to  strike  swiftly  and  surely  and 
began  its  campaign  with  splendid  success. 

Five  days  only  after  mobilization  Luttich 
(Liege),  Belgium,  is  taken,  a  very  strong,  modern 
fortress,  by  comparatively  weak  German  forces,  in- 
flicting severe  damage  on  the  enemy  and  opening 
up  the  way,  via  Belgium  to  France.  It  seems  al- 
most incredible  that  in  this  short  space  of  time 
troops  could  ever  have  arrived  or  much  less  taken 
a  fortified  town. 

Someone  has  said  that  England's  chief  objection 
to  Germany  was  that  she  got  up  too  early  and  took 
no  week-end  holiday.  This  victory  meaning  so 
much  to  the  German  army  in  opening  the  Belgian 
door  and  clearing  the  way  for  the  onward  march 
of  troops  is  a  surprise  to  the  most  sanguine  and  is 
proof  positive  that  officers  and  men  have  been  very 
much  up  and  doing! 

There  are  four-thousand  Belgian  prisoners,  but 
many  a  brave  young  German  lies  dead  or  dying, 
on  the  plains,  around  the  strong-hold  that  General 
von  Emmich  has  so  successfully  stormed. 

It  comes  as  a  surprise,  even  to  the  Germans  and 
a  surprise  to  all  the  world,  this  devastating,  death- 
dealing  weapon,  that  Krupp  has  manufactured  to 
deal  out  destruction  to  the  fort  and  fortresses 
standing  guard  over  the  road  and  route  of  the 
enemy.     The  bomb  of  17"  (42.5  cm.)  will  bore  its 


54    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

way  into  any  mortar  or  material  that  man  can 
build. 

But  the  story  of  the  downfall  of  Belgium's 
mighty  wall  has  a  sequel  before  which  the  world 
stands  aghast.  For  Belgium  backed  by  France  and 
France  by  England  has  urged  her  people  on  to  meet 
her  enemy  if  not  by  fair  means  then  by  foul.  One 
cannot  entirely  blame  the  Brabant  peasant  for  the 
tales  of  blood-shed  that  darken  our  civilization  of 
to-day. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  the  Belgians,  incited 
by  their  superiors  committed  the  most  barbarous 
crimes  against  the  peaceful  Germans,  while  Ger- 
many was  caring  for  in  a  proper,  humane  way,  the 
non-combatant  subjects,  of  hostile  states,  such  as 
traveling  salesmen,  pleasure-travelers,  patients  in 
health  resorts,  who  happened  to  be  in  the  country 
at  the  time  of  the  declaration  of  war. 

It  was  a  disgraceful  breach  of  war  that  private 
dwellings,  of  Germans  were  plundered,  and  German 
women  dragged  naked  through  the  streets  by  the 
mob  and  shot,  children  thrown  from  the  windows 
of  German  homes  into  the  streets,  and  sick  persons 
driven  from  the  hospitals  and  trustworthy  reports 
of  all  these  occurrences  from  responsible  sources 
are  at  hand. 

And  the  sequel  to  the  beginning  of  horrors  finds  its 
fulfilment  in  the  treatment  of  the  wounded  after 
the  battle  when  the  eyes  of  young  men  were  gouged 
out,  ears  and  noses  cut  off,  and  the  surgeons  of  the 
Red  Cross,  carrying  the  wounded,  caring  for  the 
dying,  were  not  respected,  but  shot  at. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    55 

The  cruelties  of  the  Congo  have  been  out-done 
by  the  Belgians  when  it  comes  to  this,  that  in  time 
of  war,  among  nations  the  laws  of  humanity  re- 
specting the  helpless  and  unarmed,  the  women  and 
children,  are  no  longer  observed. 

The  population  of  the  country  took  part  in  the 
battle,  the  troops  were  fired  on  from  ambush,  phy- 
sicians were  shot  at,  and  in  the  face  of  this  guerilla 
fighting,  against  armed  forces,  the  German  troops 
in  self-defence  were  forced  to  give  no  quarter. 
The  details  of  the  cruelties  are  only  hinted  at,  but 
an  eye-witness  writes  that  women,  girls  and  boys 
indulged  in  such  atrocities,  as  have  only  been  wit- 
nessed in  negro  warfare. 

One  shrinks  and  shivers,  even  at  the  thought  of 
this  scene  of  horrors,  upon  which  the  glorious 
August  sun  shines  down!  So  Germany  issues  a 
sharp  protest  to  the  belligerent  powers,  France  and 
Belgium,  and  the  troops  have  instructions  to  sup- 
press every  menaceful  attitude  of  the  peasant-popu- 
lation, any  person,  otherwise  than  a  soldier  carry- 
ing arms,  destroying  telegraph  wires,  utilizing  ex- 
plosives. In  short,  any  unauthorized  person  taking 
part  in  the  war  is  to  receive  summary  justice  and 
ordered  to  be  shot. 

Music  is  in  the  air,  the  battle  music;  it  is  the 
Second-Guard  regiment  leaving  for  France.  Oh! 
the  tragedy,  the  horror  of  this  World  War! 

Austria  is  reported  to  be  successful  in  Servia  and 
the  "Queen  Louise,"  a  small  passenger  boat  has 
had  the  daring,  for  mine-laying  purposes,  to  enter 
the  Thames  and  destroy  the  English  cruiser  "Am- 


56    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

phion,"  and  then  follows  news  of  advance  and  re- 
treat of  the  German  forces  and  an  Echec  in  the 
mountains  of  the  Vosges — troops  driven  back,  and 
on  the  ioth,  they  beat  the  Seventh  French  Army 
Corps  at  Miilhausen. 

What  an  awful  strain  and  suspense  these  days 
of  battle,  even  the  air  seems  to  be  still  and  a  feel- 
ing of  awe  creeps  over  all. 

The  Czar  issues  a  proclamation  to  the  Jews,  re- 
minding them  of  the  noble  way  in  which  they  have 
been  treated — of  the  benefits  bestowed  on  them  and 
various  promises  are  held  out  to  the  children  of 
Israel,  as  they  are  being  called  upon  to  serve  volun- 
tarily. There  are  thousands  of  Russians  being  held 
here  in  custody,  partly  for  their  own  safety  and 
partly  for  political  reasons, — twenty-one  generals 
most  of  them  no  longer  in  active  service,  and  four- 
thousand  Russians  under  police  surveillance  at 
Doberitz  who  are  well  looked  after,  and  enjoy  a 
certain  amount  of  freedom. 

Special  trains  for  Americans  desiring  to  go  to 
Holland  are  scheduled  to  go  once  a  week;  the  sta- 
tion is  a  sight  to  see,  the  American  flag  from  the 
engine  to  the  last  passenger  car  waves  "Goodbye" 
and  "Good  Luck." 

They  go  to  The  Hague,  where  they  wait  most  of 
them  for  a  stray  chance  of  a  vacant  berth  to  get 
them  safely  home.  In  the  Berlin  City  Hall  there 
is  a  German-American  meeting  of  sympathy.  The 
crowd  is  so  great  one  can  only  get  standing  room, 
and  the  address  by  His  Excellency,  Prof,  von  Har- 
nack,  will  be  remembered  long  by  all,  especially 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    57 

these  words — "This  civilization  of  ours,  the  most 
precious  possession  of  the  human  race,  was  prin- 
cipally entrusted  to  three  peoples,  yes,  to  them 
almost  alone,  to  us,  the  English,  the  Americans,  I 
cover  up  my  head,  two  of  the  three  are  left,  the 
sand  of  the  desert  approaches  us." 

Where  is  the  sharp  eye  of  the  American  ?  Can't 
he  scan  the  Pacific  and  see  the  Yellow  haze? 

Evidently  the  German  army  tarries  not,  neither 
does  it  sleep.  On  August  nth,  at  Luneville,  a 
French  brigade  is  beaten,  the  first  French  flag  is 
captured,  two  batteries,  four  maxims,  and  seven- 
hundred  prisoners  are  in  German  hands,  and  on 
August  1 2th,  the  great  day  in  Scotland,  the  opening 
of  the  moors,  when  the  sportsman  goes  forth,  to 
bag  his  game,  German  submarines  are  patrolling  as 
far  up  as  the  Shetland  Isles. 

One's  brain  whirls,  every  day  brings  some  new 
surprise,  some  new  suspense  and  America  and  all 
that  it  holds  most  dear  lies  far  away  over  the 
ocean.  We  read  diligently  the  papers  and  follow 
closely  the  trend  of  events  and  watch  for  every 
sign  or  feeling,  for,  or  against  us,  as  it  is  known 
the  American  Press  is  crying  "Down  with  the  Ger- 
mans" from  the  Golden  Gate  to  the  Statue  of 
Liberty. 

But  the  Germans  are  just  and  faithful;  they 
realize  that  only  news  of  the  many  enemies  have 
gone  Overseas  and  they  must  bide  their  time  for 
fair  judgment. 

Spain  announces  her  neutrality  and  Germany 
again  warns  France  and  Belgium  of  their  frank- 


58    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

tireurs.  Why  will  they  not  take  the  warning? 
Why  will  they  not  read  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall?  Why  not  stop  the  useless  carnage  and  shut 
the  human  slaughter-house  ?  That  is  what  Belgium 
is  to-day.  It  fairly  reeks  with  blood  and  writhes 
with  agony.  Is  there  no  neutral  power  to  call  a 
halt?  or,  is  this  the  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  of  our 
world  to-day? 

The  Landsturm  is  called  out;  all  the  men  who 
have  served  in  the  army  from  every  walk  of  life, 
from  seventeen  years  to  forty-five,  the  general  levy 
of  the  people. 

On  our  way  to  Charlottenburg  we  meet  them 
coming,  in  companies,  to  the  garrisons.  We  go 
through  the  Palace  Gardens,  laid  out  by  Le  Xotre, 
and  there,  old  women  under  old  trees  gossip  of 
wars,  and  tell  tales  of  by-gone  days,  and  boys  play 
at  soldiering,  all  this  in  quiet  paths,  in  woods  and 
woodlands,  that  lead  to  the  Mausoleum  where 
Frederick  Wilhelm  III  and  Queen  Louise  are  laid 
to  rest.  But  the  way  is  barred  we  cannot  pass, 
the  Emperor  is  to  come  for  prayer,  for  His  Ma- 
jesty goes  to  the  battle-field  in  the  early  morning. 
His  six  sons  have  already  left,  the  Crown  Prince 
leading  his  own  army. 

August  i~th.  The  tramp,  tramp  of  the  soldiers, 
still  goes  on.  Twenty-thousand  cavalry  are  leav- 
ing and  in  the  thirty- six  hours  one-hundred  and 
eighty-thousand  infantry  and  artillery  going  to  the 
French  and  Russian  border.  It  seems  as  if  there 
could  hardly  be  a  man  left  in  all  Germany. 

This   is  the   harvest-time   and   the   harvest   has 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

never  been  so  plentiful ;  but  the  harvesters  are  gone 
and  the  boy-scouts  go  into  the  fields  to  bring  in 
the  yield  of  the  ground  and,  later  they  will  work 
the  prisoners!  It  is  reported  there  are  many  de- 
serters in  the  Russian  army  and  Cossacks  are  cross- 
ing the  borders  and  selling  their  horses  for  Twenty 
Marks  to  buy  food. 

The  French  prisoners  are  arriving  in  Frankfurt 
and  Stuttgart  and  the  wounded  will  soon  be  coming 
in.  There  is  a  call  for  more  volunteers  for  the 
Red  Cross  and  in  two  days  at  the  Parliament 
House,  thirty-thousand  men  and  women  enlist  and 
Krupp,  the  gun-maker,  gives  One  Million  Marks. 
and  the  Jews  Sixty-thousand  Marks  for  the 
wounded,  and  One-hundred  and  Twenty-two  thou- 
sand for  the  families  whose  men  are  in  the  field. 

Three  thousand  bakers  leave  for  the  front  and 
one-hundred  and  sixty-thousand  loaves  of  bread  are 
sent  to  the  army  and  the  chocolate  manufacturers 
send  free  to  the  soldiers,  three-hundred  thousand 
packages  and  we  see  the  fruit  being  packed  off  to 
them  in  the  boats. 

It  is  stupendous,  the  work  that  is  being  carried 
on,  by  so  many  different  people,  in  so  many  dif- 
ferent ways !    There  is  not  an  idle  person  in  Berlin. 

Bjornson,  the  son  of  the  Norwegian  poet,  writes : 
"An  imposing  calmness  inspires  this  great  nation; 
thus  they  go  into  this  war,  the  greatest  that  a 
nation  ever  had  to  wage!" 

There  is  a  song  sen-ice  in  the  Dom  and  through 
this   irregular  6,   with  its   statues  of   Luther   and 


60    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Calvin,  peels  forth  the  organ,  and  the  music,  sung 
by  a  great  choir  ends  with  a  prayer  before  the 
battle  'Ten  rufe  dich,"  which  was  written  by  a 
young  German  poet  of  patriotic  songs  who  gave  up 
the  pen  for  the  sword  to  join  the  volunteers  in  the 
great  war  of  1809-13.  He  gave  his  life — he  was 
wounded,  and  a  few  hours  before  his  death  wrote 
the  wonderfully  beautiful  "Schwertlied" — The 
Sword  Song. 

How  solemn  and  still  it  is  in  this  great  cathedral 
with  rows  and  rows  of  silent  people ! 

We  meet  to-night  the  vans,  the  great  closed  yel- 
low vans,  bringing  in  the  wounded.  One  after 
another  they  move  slowly  through  the  streets. 
Hats  are  off,  there  is  a  silent,  "welcome  home," 
one  poor  soldier  holds  out  his  bandaged  arm,  and 
the  crowds  press  forward  to  press  his  hand. 

We  begin  to  realize  the  unspeakable  sadness  of 
war,  and  that  many  lie  dead  on  the  battle-field. 

August  iSth.  The  Emperor  Franz  Josef  to-day 
celebrates  his  eighty-fourth  birthday.  He  is  be- 
loved by  his  people  who  look  upon  him  more  as  a 
friend  than  a  monarch  and  titulate  him  as  "Our 
Franzi."  Seldom  has  a  monarch  undergone  more 
trials.  His  brother,  the  Emperor  Maximillian  of 
Mexico,  was  murdered,  Johann  Orth  disappeared, 
his  only  son  Rudolf  met  with  a  tragic  end,  his 
wife,  Elizabeth,  died  by  the  assassinator's  hand, 
his  nephew,  the  Archduke  Francis  Ferdinand,  the 
successor  to  the  throne,  together  with  his  wife, 
were  the  victims  of  a  political  plot  (the  Duchess 
of  Alencon  was  burnt  to  death   at  the   Charity 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    61 

Bazaar  in  Paris),  and  now  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
four  he  looks  out  upon  a  world  at  war  and  his 
Empire  engaged  in  a  tremendous  struggle  for  the 
very  life  of  his  Kingdom. 

His  cup  has  been  running  over  with  sorrow. 
One  hopes  he  will  be  given  the  draught  of  victory 
before  his  dying  day. 

August  20th.  Official  correspondence  is  just  pub- 
lished to  the  effect  that  Belgium  is  not  inclined  to 
accept  Germany's  offer  to  suspend  hostilities,  de- 
spite Germany's  offer  not  to  annex  any  Belgium 
soil  and  quit  Belgium  immediately  when  hostili- 
ties are  at  an  end.  This  is  the  strongest  proof  that 
binding  agreements  have  been  made  between 
France,  England  and  Belgium  for  a  mutual  war 
against  Germany  and  which  cannot  be  annulled 
now. 

The  end  is  not  yet.  Japan  has  sent  her  ulti- 
matum to  Germany,  against  whom  she  has  no 
grievance.  How  proud  and  pleased  England,  fair 
England  must  be.  She  pushes  forth  Belgium  and 
France  to  cut  the  way  and  locks  arms  with  the 
Cossack  and  the  Yellow  peril  to  walk  in.  But 
where  does  the  way  lead? 

It  seems  that  Japan  has  an  agreement  with  Eng- 
land from  1895  that  in  case  of  war  Japan  is  to 
come  to  her  assistance.  England  now  calls  for  her 
aid.  So  the  Japanese  Charge  d'Affaires  in  Berlin, 
acting  on  instructions  from  his  Government  hands 
a  note  to  the  Foreign  Office  in  which  the  immediate 
withdrawal,  or  the  disarmament  of  German  ships 
in  Japanese  and  Chinese  waters  is  demanded,  fur- 


62    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

ther,  the  German  Government  is  called  upon  to  hand 
over,  unconditionally,  the  whole  leased  territory  of 
Kiautchau  to  the  Japanese  before  the  twenty-third 
day  of  the  month  of  August. 

It  is  the  most  brazen  ultimatum,  that  has  ever 
been  presented  in  the  world.  Is  Great  Britain 
proud  of  her  brother  in  arms? 

Germany's  only  answer  is  sending  the  Japanese 
Ambassador  his  passport.  It  is  stated  that  the 
United  States  Government  attaches  particular  value 
to  the  status-quo,  being  upheld  in  China  and  ob- 
jects that  Kiautchau  should  pass  into  other  hands. 
It  would  awaken  the  greatest  discontent  in  the 
United  States,  should  Japan  take  possession  of  the 
Samoan  Islands,  especially  in  the  strategic  impor- 
tance that  the  Islands  have  in  connection  with  the 
Panama  Canal. 

The  Governor  of  Kiautchau  cables,  that  he  and 
the  garrison  "will  do  their  duty."  It  can  only 
mean  a  massacre  when  the  Japanese  enter  in.  What 
is  a  small  German  colony  against  so  many?  This 
might  well  be  called  a  war  of  commerce  on  the  part 
of  Great  Britain,  whose  battle  cry  is  pounds,  shil- 
lings and  pence,  and,  who  for  this  act,  bequeaths 
to  her  childrens'  children  a  very  heavy  burden  of 
shame ! 

It  may  be  proved  in  days  to  come  that  England's 
refusal  to  remain  neutral  in  the  European  war  is  as 
stupid  a  crime  as  Lord  North's  decision  for  war 
with  the  Colonies  in  1776,  or  as  was  the  Crimean 
and  the  Boer  war. 

Every  day  brings  news.     The  battle  at  Gum- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    63 

binnen  and  Angerburg  is  a  victory  for  Germany, 
with  eight-thousand  prisoners  and  eight  field-guns 
taken. 

A  prince  of  the  church  lies  dead  in  Rome.  The 
tolling  of  the  bells  of  St.  Peters  announce  the  pass- 
ing of  Pius  X. 

There  will  never  again  be  a  Papal  conclave  held 
under  such  circumstances  and  never  such  a  journey 
as  that  of  the  cardinals  to  the  holy  city. 

August  21st.  Brussels  is  occupied  by  the  Ger- 
mans, the  flight  of  the  King,  the  Royal  family,  and 
the  Government,  to  the  fortress  of  Antwerp,  point 
to  the  fact  that  all  hopes  that  the  united  French 
and  Belgian  troops  had  of  preventing  the  German 
forces  from  attacking  further  has  been  abandoned. 
The  news  of  this  success  is  received  with  the  great- 
est enthusiasm  in  Berlin  and  the  Provinces. 

There  is  a  great  victory  at  Metz,  and  the  Vosges, 
won  by  the  Crown  Prince  Ruprecht  of  Bavaria, 
who  led  his  troops  valiantly.  This  battle  lasted 
two  days  and  is  the  biggest  battle  fought  since  fifty 
years.  The  whole  result  cannot  yet  be  gauged  for 
the  battle-field  occupies  a  larger  space  than  that  of 
the  struggles  of  1870  which  busied  the  whole  of  the 
German  army! 

August  22nd.  The  German  Crown  Prince  beats 
the  French  Army  at  Longwy.  The  battle-field  was 
one-hundred  kilometers  long,  twenty  to  thirty  thou- 
sand prisoners  have  been  captured,  and  this  victory 
from  the  present  outlook,  one  might  almost  think, 
means  the  "to  be"  of  Germany.    The  Kaiser  has  ad- 


64    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

dressed  the  following  telegram  to  his  daughter,  the 
Duchess  of  Brunswick: 

"God  our  Lord  has  blessed  our  brave  troops  and 
given  them  the  victory.  May  all  of  those  at  home 
go  on  their  knees  and  offer  up  prayers  of  thanks, 
and  may  the  Lord  remain  with  us,  and  the  whole 
of  the  German  nation  in  the  future. 
"Your  faithful  father, 

WlLHELM." 

The  news  of  these  successes  of  the  German  army 
being  made  known  in  Berlin,  flies  from  mouth  to 
mouth  amongst  a  jubilant  population.  There  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  its  truth.  Everyone  is  con- 
vinced of  its  genuineness  by  the  brief,  concise  words 
of  the  official  telegram.  Masses  of  people  collect  on 
Unter  den  Linden  and  before  the  Palace  patriotic 
songs  are  sung  and  the  Kaiserin  and  the  Crown 
Princess  appear  on  the  balcony  and  acknowledge 
the  thanks  of  the  crowds  amidst  deafening  cheer- 
ing, and  the  church  bells  welcome  the  news. 

England  was  expected  to  send  a  great  army,  but 
only  a  comparatively  small  number  volunteered  for 
the  front.  "Tommy  Atkins"  is  not  so  keen  for  a 
pay  for  nine  shillings  per  week,  to  give  up  his  life. 

It  must  be  of  great  satisfaction  to  the  Germans 
that  out  of  one-million,  seven-hundred  thousand 
volunteers,  ninety-thousand  men  are  from  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  and  this,  contrary,  to  the  reports  that 
these  countries'  sympathies  were  more  French  than 
German.     But,  in  England  the  war  is  not  popular 


Chancellor  Bethmann  von  Hollweg 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    65 

with  the  working-man  and  Mr.  John  Burns,  Secre- 
retary  of  State,  and  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Labor  Party,  resigns  from  the  Ministry. 

He  declares  in  the  press  that  he  is  on  the  side 
of  peace  and  the  neutrality  of  England.  He  states, 
the  war  trumpet  was  blown  in  order  to  stifle  the 
inner  political  crisis  in  England  and  England  risks 
all  in  the  struggle.  He  knows  best  the  great 
organizations  of  the  miners  and  the  other  labor 
combines  agree  with  him  and  it  is  false  to  say  that 
public  opinion  in  England  is  unanimous  for  the 
war. 

If,  England  had  had  more  men  of  the  type  of 
John  Burns  in  the  Cabinet  the  world  might  have 
been  spared  the  greatest  of  tragedies. 

The  son  of  the  Bavarian  Crown  Prince  lies  dead 
in  Munich,  a  boy  of  just  thirteen  years.  Ruprecht 
of  Bavaria  does  not  leave  his  troops  to  go  to  the 
death-bed  of  the  Prince  Luitpold,  his  son  and  heir. 
He  telegraphs,  he  has,  "no  time  to  mourn."  He 
has  a  stern  duty,  a  country,  his  country  must  be 
saved  at  all  costs  and  personal  griefs  must  give 
place  to  the  national  welfare.  This  is  the  unwrit- 
ten code  of  all  who  fight  under  the  flag. 

The  Franktireurs  are  continuting  their  atrocities 
and  the  scenes  and  sights  in  the  Brabant  country 
where  the  officers  and  men  in  the  rank  and  file  go 
down  before  the  bullets  from  ambush,  where  un- 
speakable, indescribable  brutalities  and  bestialities, 
are  committed  on  the  bodies  of  the  living  and  the 
dead  by  the  Belgium  furies,  are  said  to  be  beyond 
believing. 


66    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

August  24th.  The  Germans  are  now  marching 
towards  Maubeuge.  The  victorious  battles  at  the 
French  border,  from  North  to  South — almost  from 
the  North  Sea  to  Miilhausen,  have  been  fought 
under'  the  leadership  of  three  princes.  The  Ger- 
man Crown  Prince,  the  Crown  Prince  of  Bavaria, 
and  the  Duke  Albrecht  von  Wurttemburg. 

While  these  battles  were  won  in  the  West,  the 
Germans  won  an  important  battle  at  Gumbinnen 
driving  the  Russians  back  over  the  border  and  thus 
freeing  this  grainland  from  the  Russian  invader. 

August  26th.  Namur  captured,  the  city  and 
four  forts  in  German  hands.  Lieutenant  Otto  von 
der  Linde,  for  the  taking  of  one  of  the  forts  out- 
side Namur,  receives  the  order  "Pour  le  merite." 
The  highest  military  order  in  Germany,  and  this 
only  at  the  age  of  twenty-two. 

Luttich,  Huy,  and  then  Namur. 

Such  has  been  the  sequence  of  Germany's  vic- 
tories in  Belgium. 

Namur  is  fifty  kilometers  west  of  Luttich  and  is 
the  terminus  of  five  important  railway  lines.  It  is 
already  changed  into  a  German  city — a  bridge  was 
blown  up  by  the  Belgians,  and  in  two  days  the 
Germans  have  built  another  a  short  distance  to  the 
North.  The  inhabitants  of  Hauvenir  gave  cigar- 
ettes to  the  victorious  German  soldiers  as  they 
passed  through,  which  were  discovered  to  contain 
explosives.  Major  Langhorne,  of  the  U.  S.  Army, 
was  one  of  those  to  visit  Namur  after  the  fall. 

There  was  great  gladness  and  great  sadness  over 
the  city  of  Berlin, — all  over  the  German  Empire. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    67 

Pride,  for  the  armies  of  men,  the  hosts  of  the  Em- 
peror, who  carried  the  flag  to  victory,  into  the 
enemies'  country  and  sadness  and  seriousness  over 
the  heads  bowed  down  by  grief  and  woe.  For 
great  victories  bring  great  losses,  and  a  most 
precious  price  is  paid  by  these  children  of  the 
Fatherland  for  the  defence  of  home  and  hearth. 
No  one  can  be  unaffected  by  this  great  calamity, 
so  widespread  that  inundates  the  countries  far  and 
wide. 

The  Bavarians  are  strong  fighters,  the  Blue 
Bavarian  is  a  word  of  terror  to  the  French,  just 
as  much  as  "Haesler  is  coming,"  and  this  veteran 
is  now  in  the  field,  this  hero  of  bygone  days  and 
the  Austrians  are  far,  very  far  from  showing  the 
white  feather  to  the  Russian  and  Servian  forces. 

And  with  all  these  tidings,  days  go  by  with  num- 
berless Americans  in  this  country,  hermetically 
sealed  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

At  last,  the  long  expected,  long-looked-for  "Ten- 
nessee" has  arrived  at  the  Hook.  The  American 
warship  brings  the  Assistant-Secretary  of  War, 
army  and  navy  officers,  three-millions  in  gold  for 
private  banking  interests  and  one  and  a  half  mil- 
lions in  gold  to  be  used  in  aid  of  Americans  in 
need. 

The  relief,  the  rejoicing  to  so  many,  the  news 
from  the  home  country  and  the  prospect  of  getting 
back  is  great  and  even  the  negro  minstrels  "the 
Black  Diamonds,"  who  are  strapped  without  funds, 
give  their  services  for  a  concert  for  the  benefit  of 
everybody.     And    strains   of   Dixie,    the    Swanee 


68    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

River,  Old  Kentucky  Home,  and  all  the  old  familiar 
songs  of  the  cotton  fields  bring  out  all  the  odd 
coins  in  all  pockets  and  one  old  black  cries  out: 
'Tse  jest  shure  the  jedgment  day  is  comin'  "  and 
many  a  white  agrees  with  him. 

The  Americans  have  received  so  much  courtesy 
and  consideration  in  this  "house  of  trouble,"  that 
they  go  out  of  it,  away  from  it,  with  deep  sympathy 
in  their  hearts  and  a  deep  conviction  of  its  right 
and  all  good  wishes  for  a  speedy  victory. 

August  2gth.  Count  von  Bernstorff,  the  German 
Ambassador  in  Washington,  accompanied  by  the 
former  Secretary  of  Colonies,  Dr.  Bernhard  Dern- 
burg  has  made  his  crossing  safely  and  arrived  in 
New  York.  A  protest  is  made  against  the  unfair 
attack  on  the  Germans  and  against  the  fact  that, 
England  should  look  for  aid  from  the  Yellow  Race. 

Could  anything  be  more  disastrous  for  Great 
Britain's  prestige  than  the  Japanese  attack  on  Ger- 
many under  cover  of  the  Anglo-American  Treaty? 

Yesterday,  August  28th,  was  a  victory  over  the 
English  Army  Corps  at  St.  Quentin,  and  advances 
by  the  Belgians  from  Antwerp  have  been  re- 
pulsed. 

British  and  German  soldiers  have  now  crossed 
swords  for  the  first  time  and  the  English  have  been 
beaten  in  the  same  way  as  their  Allies.  Those  who 
know  expected  as  much.  Although  the  British 
soldier  is  an  excellent  fighter  he  lacks  training  and 
discipline.  The  English  have  been  occupied  with 
little  wars,  against  all  kinds  of  colored  races,  and 
it  was  a  great  venture  to  send  the  Expeditionary 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    69 

Force  to  the  Continent,  and  the  venture  has  met 
its  fate. 

A  great  German  victory  has  taken  place  at  Tan- 
nenburg,  East  Prussia.  Sixty  kilometer  battle-field, 
and  seventy-thousand  Russian  prisoners,  and  about 
five-hundred  guns  taken.  The  Russian  troops  were 
driven  back  from  the  border,  and  those  who  were 
not  killed  or  taken  prisoners  were  driven  into  the 
Masurian  swamps.  It  was  a  three  days'  battle  with 
very  heavy  losses  on  both  sides. 

The  Lazaretts  have  their  daily  van-loads  of  the 
victims  of  war  and  the  boats  on  the  Spree  have 
been  successfully  turned  into  floating  hospitals. 

The  woman's  time  has  come.  There  are  many 
wounded  to  heal,  many  dying  to  comfort.  There 
is  no  lack  of  womens'  nursing,  there  is  no  dearth 
of  womens'  tears! 

The  hospitals  are  wonderfully  organized;  the 
one  we  visited  to-day  made  a  great  impression  as 
everything  was  so  carefully  planned. 

For  instance,  on  every  bedstead,  there  hung  a 
new  outfit  for  the  wounded  man  in  convalescence. 
His  mud-splashed,  blood-bespattered  garments 
were  not  to  be  seen  or  worn;  on  every  bedside 
table  fresh  flowers,  and  every  tested  scientific 
method  to  save  life  and  limb  is  employed  and  in 
the  Russian  wards  the  same  care  and  attention.  A 
photograph  of  X  rays,  of  every  fracture,  is  taken 
and  pinned  to  the  chart  of  every  patient. 

There  is  no  gladness  in  the  faces  of  these 
heavily-wounded  men  who  have  come  out  of  these 
fierce  battles,  hurt  and  maimed,  but  with  their  lives. 


70    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

No  thankfulness  or  joy.  They  seem  beyond  human 
emotions,  just  gazing  into  space.  The  booming  of 
the  cannon,  the  whiz  of  the  bullet,  the  smell  of  the 
powder — they  come  out  of  this,  and  seem  to  re- 
member but  little.  They  are  shot;  some  of  them 
don't  even  know  it. 

One  Russian,  who  spoke  English,  was  an  intelli- 
gent man;  he  had  lived  in  Chicago  and  Detroit  for 
a  year,  and  after  his  success  there  had  gone  back 
to  join  his  wife  and  children.  He  said  he  did  not 
know  what  he  was  fighting  for,  but  they  were 
driven  on  by  the  Knout,  and  it  was  a  chance  of 
this  death,  or  a  bullet  in  the  front. 

There  were  young  Armenians  in  the  war,  and 
one  poor  dying  boy  was  trying  in  German  to 
thank  the  Red  Cross  sister  who  was  smiling  at  him 
in  his  agony.  Courage  was  given  and  help,  the 
woman's  part  in  great  battles. 

They  expect  a  winter  campaign  here,  or,  in  the 
cold  Russian  country  and  the  grey  wool  is  being 
turned  and  twisted  into  everything  useful,  from 
stockings  to  ear-warmers. 

And  there  is  another  big  work  to  do.  The  army 
of  unemployed  must  be  helped.  The  great  army  of 
men,  women,  and  children,  who  are  out  of  work 
by  reason  of  the  closing  down  of  factories,  great 
businesses  and  so  forth! 

One  sees  no  indigent  paupers,  beggars  on  the 
streets  of  Berlin.  What  a  contrast  to  Kensington 
Gardens  where  the  public  green  is  black  with  hope- 
less humanity,  on  benches  and  grounds.  But,  these 
German  people  must  be  fed,  must  be  tided  over 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    71 

these  times  and  the  Red  Cross  has  opened  stations 
where  meals  are  given  on  presentation  of  tickets. 

They  give  for  10  Pfennigs,  soup  with  meat  and 
bread;  everything  is  clean,  well-cooked  and  good, 
and  one  sees  here  all  kinds  and  conditions  of 
people. 

It  is  all  so  well-organized.  There  is  no  fighting, 
or  pushing,  no  unseemly  scenes  among  the  crowds, 
driven  here,  by  the  circumstances  of  war,  to  get 
their  daily  bread. 

So  there  is  work  for  all  to  do  in  this  city  to-day, 
— for  those  at  home,  and  those  from  abroad,  heaps 
of  work,  for  the  willing  hand  and  the  willing 
heart ! 

September  ist.  There  is  a  dark  story,  a  death 
story,  a  black  page  in  these  days'  history,  which 
one  wants  not  to  read.     It  is  the  story  of  Louvain. 

The  German  troops  are  on  their  way,  probably 
to  Antwerp,  and  the  citizens  of  this  town  of  art 
treasures  are  peaceful,  they  receive  the  troops 
quietly,  there  is  even  friendly  concourse.  They 
are  in  the  stations  waiting  for  trains,  in  the  cafes, 
in  the  streets,  talking  with  the  people,  there  is 
seemingly  much  friendliness,  much  pleasantness, 
much  quietness, — evidently  no  animosity,  no  hatred, 
no  excitement, — all  goes  well. 

But  when  the  time  time  comes  to  leave,  all  the 
church  bells  ring  out  their  cry  and  signal  and  the 
scenes  of  horrors  begin.  From  the  windows  boil- 
ing oil  is  poured  on  the  heads  of  the  soldiers — 
shots  are  fired  from  roof  and  garden,  bush  and 


72    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

ambush,  officers  and  men  to  the  number  of  seven- 
hundred  and  over,  fall  before  this  unexpected 
attack  from  the  inhabitants,  who  had  agreed,  to 
be  quiet  and  peaceful,  and  in  return  were  to  receive 
every  consideration,  not  a  hair  of  their  head,  nor 
part  nor  parcel  of  their  property  and  belongings  to 
be  touched  by  the  passing  army,  and  now,  betrayed 
by  the  citizens  the  German  army,  for  self-defence 
and  self-protection  give  no  mercy. 

When  it  became  known  that  officials  furnished 
firearms  to  the  populace,  planned  the  deed,  excited 
the  people  to  acts  of  violence,  and  that  fifty  Ger- 
man soldiers  were  found  murdered  in  a  cellar, 
butchered  by  Belgians,  then  Louvain  was  doomed 
to  destruction. 

Nero  never  witnessed  aught  more  awful  in  the 
burning  of  Rome,  than  those  who  looked  on  at  the 
flames  destroying  one-sixth  of  this  Belgian  city. 
In  the  burning  district,  only  the  Town  Hall  was 
saved,  the  pearl  of  Louvain,  and  that  by  the  effort 
of  the  German  soldiers.  Its  wonderful  lace  orna- 
mentation has  been  entirely  spared,  not  a  leaf  of 
the  sculptured  foliage,  not  a  nose  of  the  numerous 
statutettes  has  been  touched.  It  stands  out  in  bold 
relief  in  its  beauty,  in  this  fated  city. 

This  tale  of  turbulence  is  not  a  new  one  for  the 
Brabant  Louvain,  they  came  rightly  by  their  inheri- 
tance of  cruelty,  for  as  far  back  as  1378  during  an 
insurrection,  thirteen  magistrates  of  noble  family 
were  thrown  from  the  windows  of  the  Hotel  de 
Ville,  and  received  by  the  populace  below  on  the 
points  of  their  spears,  and  when  Duke  Wenceslaus 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    73 

took  the  city  in  1382,  he  severely  punished  the 
citizens,  thousands  of  whom  emigrated  to  Holland 
and  England  and  from  this  period  dates  the  decay 
of  Louvain. 

Also,  theire  is  no  compulsory  school  education 
in  Belgium,  and  one  out  of  every  four  cannot  read 
or  write. 

The  Belgian  Queen,  with  her  children  has 
escaped  to  Lord  Curzon's  place  in  England,  the 
Belgian  King  has  taken  refuge  in  Antwerp  and 
with  him  is  his  cousin,  Clementine  of  Belgium, 
who  married  Prince  Victor  Napoleon,  and  their 
children  the  youngest  being  the  Imperial  child  of 
France,  so  that  England  besides  harboring  Ex- 
King  Manuel,  will  see  in  her  borders  the  reigning 
King  of  the  Belgiums  and  the  future  "Emperor" 
of  the  French,  the  so-called  Pretender  to  the 
French  throne. 

One  hears  that  Paris  is  preparing  for  a  siege, 
and  that  the  beautiful  Bois,  has  become  a  field  for 
cattle  and  a  soldiers'  camping  ground.  Since  the 
first  German  aeroplane  has  appeared  over  the  city, 
all  the  art  treasures  of  the  Louvre  have  been  re- 
moved to  underground  cellars,  so  the  Mona  Lisa 
goes  out  of  sight  again. 

Under  the  heading  of  the  last  heroic  deed  of  the 
British,  comes  the  news  that  the  Lloyd  steamship 
"Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Grosse"  which  was  lying 
anchored  and  coaling  off  Rio  del  Oro,  a  Spanish 
colony  in  neutral  waters,  has  been  sunk  by  the 
English  cruiser,  "Highflyer",  thus  making  a  breach 
of  neutrality.      Might    before    right  has    become 


74    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

England's  motto.     Britannia  rules  the  waves  be- 
comes "Britannia  waives  the  rules." 

A  number  of  Englishmen  living  in  Munich  send 
contributions  to  the  Red  Cross  and  desire  their 
church  to  be  used  as  a  military  hospital,  an 
example  set  them  by  their  compatriots  in  Ham- 
burg. They  enclose  a  communication  stating  this 
action  is  taken  as  a  protest  against  the  policy  of 
England,  they  add  that  England  and  Germany 
ought  to  be  able,  co jointly  to  defend  the  civili- 
zation of  the  Western  countries.  Slatin  Pasha, 
resigns  his  commission,  as  General  Inspector  of  the 
Soudan  and  offers  his  services  to  the  Austrian 
Government. 

September  2nd.  Forty-four  years  ago  to-day, 
Napoleon  III,  was  taken  prisoner  at  Sedan  and 
to-day,  upon  the  Anniversary,  Sedantag,  the  first 
trophies  of  the  present  war  are  brought  to  Berlin. 

The  sun  shines  gloriously  down  on  the  patriotic 
scene;  it  is  the  one  day  they  give  themselves  to 
rejoicing.  They  know  full  well  they  are  not  and 
will  not  be  spared  the  dark  sides  of  war,  but ;  they 
must  come  forth  to-day  to  do  honor  to  their  flag 
and  they  come  forth  in  great  numbers  from  far 
and  near.  The  Unter  den  Linden  is  black  with 
people,  watching  and  waiting  for  the  procession,  to 
pass  through  the  Brandenburger  Gate. 

It  is  wonderfully  impressive;  eighteen  Russian, 
French  and  Belgian  guns,  and  three  machine  guns, 
are  drawn  by  captured  Russian  horses  on  their 
way  to  the  Royal  Palace  escorted  by  eight  of  the 
Landstrum  who  captured  the  Russian  flag. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    75 

There  is  not  one,  young  and  old,  whose  heart  is 
not  beating  with  pride  and  enthusiasm.  Even  those 
who  are  already  bereft  and  bereaved  by  the  rav- 
ages of  war,  they  too  come  to  view  the  trophies 
for  which  they  have  given  their  all. 

Women  and  children  faint  in  the  crowds  and 
young  Germany,  the  small  boys  dressed  in  the  uni- 
forms of  the  Red  Hussars,  Blue  Uhlans,  clattering 
their  wooden  swords  mount  the  captured  guns  and 
wave  the  Schwarz-Weiss-Rot.  The  most  cynical 
old  man  would  throb  with  enthusiasm  too  as  these 
mere  babies  shout  and  cheer — while  voices  upon 
voices  swell  to  the  blue  in  the  "Deutschland, 
Deutschland  iiber  alles." 

In  the  evening  comes  the  news  of  a  new  vctory 
in  France,  near  Verdun  and  through  the  cheering 
crowds  comes  a  trained  choir  who  stop  in  the  Pari- 
ser  Platz,  and  lead  the  multitudes  singing,  Kor- 
ner's  "Liitzow's  Wilde  verrwegene  Jagd." 

How  inspiring!  Strange  to  say,  this  scene  and 
song,  is  just  in  front,  of  the  closed  French 
Embassy ! 

September  $th.  The  Germans  have  arrived  at 
the  outer  forts  of  Antwerp,  and  it  is  officially  an- 
nounced, that  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  General 
von  Kluck  is  nearing  Paris.  The  fortresses  in  the 
North,  with  the  exception  of  Maubeuge  have  fallen 
without  fight. 

President  Poincare  and  the  French  Government 
have  left  Paris  for  Bordeaux. 

The     Belgian    King   escaped    to   Antwerp,   the 


76    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

French  President  to  Bordeaux,  the  Emperor  of  all 
the  Russias,  is  guarded  in  Moscow,  the  King  of 
England  behind  the  portals  of  Buckingham  Palace, 
and  the  German  Emperor  out  in  the  front  with 
his  great  General  Staff,  cheering  the  troops,  visit- 
ing the  wounded  and  the  Crown  Prince  and  the 
Princes  at  the  front  taking  the  chances  of  war,  in 
the  thick  of  the  fight  for  the  Fatherland. 

A  picture  with  color  and  contrast. 

At  last,  the  great  battle  of  Lemberg  with  a 
battle  line  of  400  kilometers  is  ended.  For  ten  days 
it  lasted  with  fighting  never  ceasing  and  after 
heavy,  heavy  losses  on  both  sides,  after  great  re- 
sistance, Austria,  though  victorious  on  her  left 
wing  is  forced  to  give  up  Lemberg  to  the  Rus- 
sians. 

Austria  is  fighting  wonderfully.  Where  are  the 
predictions  pronouncing  Austria,  a  mere  jumble  of 
disjointed  nationalities,  tottering  to  its  decay?  The 
hour  of  national  danger  had  hardly  struck,  when 
all  realized  the  significance  of  a  common,  national 
life,  and  to-day,  without  any  distinction,  Germans 
and  Czechs,  Magyars,  the  Southern  Slav  and 
Italians,  to  the  number  of  one  and  a  quarter  mil- 
lion volunteers  have  rallied  round  the  Emperor 
King. 

How  can  Russia  be  so  united,  where  the  knouted 
peasant  starves  in  his  pigsty,  where  the  tortured 
Jew  cringes  at  the  feet  of  his  tormenters,  where 
oppression  and  barbarous  cruelty  reigns  in  Poland, 
Finland  and  the  Baltic  provinces  and  the  aristo- 
crat is  supreme  and  every  human  right  is  flouted 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    77 

and    anarchism    and  nihilism    are    born    and    at 
home? 

Can  there  be  unanimity  here  in  this  war?  But 
the  Czar  must  proceed.  Since  the  Great  Peter's 
time,  it  is  the  Russian  will  to  possess  Constanti- 
nople. It  has  become  clear  to  the  Russians  that  if 
things  remain  as  they  are  now,  the  way  to  Con- 
stantinople is  through  Berlin,  Vienna  being  only  a 
secondary  consideratoin. 

September  6th.  The  Crown  Prince  has  had 
great  losses  in  his  army,  through  a  surprise  of  the 
French  near  Verdun.  The  fortress  Rheims  sur- 
renders to  German  troops  under  General  von 
Btilow,  the  bombardment  of  Nancy  goes  on  in  the 
presence  of  the  German  Emperor. 

A  special  meeting  of  Parliament  has  been  held 
in  London,  the  result  is  an  agreement  between  the 
Allies  whereby  it  is  agreed  that  no  separate  peace 
is  to  be  given  to  Germany  from  either  England, 
France  or  Russia.  The  declaration  is  published  in 
London,  signed  by  Grey,  Cambon  and  Benken- 
dorf,  and  reads: — 

"The  governments  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Russia,  herewith  agree  that  not  one  of  them 
will  sign  a  peace  document  of  single  peace;  the 
three  governments  further  agree  that  none  of  them 
will  make  an  agreement  of  peace  without  consult- 
ing the  other  two  Governments  about  the  con- 
ditions of  peace." 

This  practically  ends  all  hope  of  a  short,  de- 
cisive outcome.  The  wisest  in  warlore  cannot  pre- 
dict the  duration,  or  the  disastrous  results  to  each 


78    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

and  every  country.  If,  swift  and  crushing  defeats 
could  bring  about  a  speedy  decison,  or  whether 
many  months,  or  even  years  will  pass  in  breathless 
tension  and  bring  about  a  universal  exhaustion — 
these  ifs — no  one  dares  to  prophesy. 

England's  declaration  of  war,  England's  present 
attitude  has  been  and  is  the  great  blow  to  Germany. 
Two  nations  allied  by  blood  relationship  and  the 
bonds  of  intimate  associations,  destined  to  take 
their  share,  side  by  side  in  the  permanent  work  of 
civilization  have  come  to  the  parting  of  the 
ways. 

England,  who  planned  and  plotted  the  war  con- 
ducts it  chiefly  through  her  Allies. 

Now  this  ancient  bond  has  been  rendered  asun- 
der, suddenly,  and  terribly  for  an  indefinite  time. 
Whatever  will  be  the  final  result,  whatever  the 
situation  of  Europe,  when  the  war  is  at  an  end  one 
thing  is  certain:  the  old  relation  between  Germany 
and  England  cannot  be  resumed,  a  bitter,  unspeak- 
able resentment,  distrust,  and  estrangement  will 
last  a  long  time,  perhaps  for  ever. 

The  hope  of  Christianity  and  civilization  is  shat- 
tered to  atoms,  if  England  spells  victory.  Not 
just  England,  but  England  plus  this,  that  and  the 
other ! 

The  Pacific  is  threatened.  Japan  now  declares 
that  the  report  that  she  is  sending  troops  to  Europe 
is  false.  Japan  has  no  intention  of  putting  her 
troops  at  the  disposal  of  another  Government, 
either  in  Europe  or  elsewhere. 

And  now  we  have  the  story  of  crime  in  war- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    79 

fare.  After  the  taking  of  the  French  forces  at 
Longwy,  the  German  Emperor's  troops  found 
thousands  of  Dum-Dum  bullets,  which  were  manu- 
factured by  special  Government  workshops,  simi- 
lar bullets  were  found  on  dead  and  wounded 
French  soldiers  and  also  on  British  troops. 

The  Dum-Dum  is  a  jagged  bullet,  inflicting  most 
terrible  wounds,  causing  most  agonizing  suffering, 
and  was  manufactured  by  the  English  Government 
for  Indian  warfare  and  their  use  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited by  the  acknowledged  principles  of  the  In- 
ternational Law  of  Warfare,  decided  at  The 
Hague  and  in  Geneva. 

The  only  great  Umpire  that  is  left  to  judge  is 
the  only  one  of  the  great  powers  not  yet  implicated 
in  the  world  war — the  power  over  the  Atlantic — 
the  United  States. 

Vienna  diplomatists  state  that  the  United  States 
has  asked  England  whether  she  can  give  a  satis- 
factory understanding  that  Japan  will  not  endanger 
the  integrity  of  American  possessions  in  the 
Pacific.  What  will  America  do,  what  are  we  to 
expect  ? 

This,  is  the  question  in  the  mind  of  every 
American  in  Europe,  as  the  international  situation 
becomes  daily  more  complicated.  The  last  infor- 
mation, is  that  America,  is  positively  neutral. 
Americans  have  reason  to  put  their  trust  in  Presi- 
dent Wilson. 

Political  parties  and  local  issues  will  cease  to 
exist  in  a  situation  so  serious.  Suffrage,  tariff, 
trust-busting,  and    every    other    national    question 


80    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

will  be  thrust  aside,  but,  it  is  not  now  the  party  or 
platform  that  counts;  it  is  the  principle,  and  the 
personality  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
who  has  proved  his  ability  as  a  leader,  and  now  is 
his  hour  to  prove  his  comprehensive  view-point  of 
the  situation. 

Was  it  Germany's  desire  to  expand?  Had  any 
sane  German  the  wish  to  add  still  more  Poles  to 
his  Polish  provinces,  or  still  more  Frenchmen  to 
his  Alsace-Lorraine? 

Every  square  foot  of  land  taken  from  its  Rus- 
sian or  French  neighbors  would  have  become  a 
new  burden  to  the  German  Empire.  Germany 
wanted  from  her  neighbors,  nothing,  but  to  be  left 
alone.  Germany  victorious  in  the  European  tur- 
moil is  liberated  from  the  danger  with  which  its 
neighbors  have  threatened  it,  for  so  many  years. 
Germany  defeated,  the  militarism  of  yesterday  will 
appear  as  nothing  to  the  over-militarism  of 
to-morrow. 

Also  the  question  of  the  Dum-Dum  is  too  serious 
to  be  passed  by.  It  is  a  breach  of  the  International 
Law,  of  warfaring. 

So  a  protest  is  made.  As  message  is  sent  from 
the  Kaiser  to  the  American  nation  by  his  Chancel- 
lor, von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  and  Emperor  Wil- 
helm  sends  a  wire  direct  to  President  Wilson 
vehemently  protesting  against  this  kind  of  warfare, 
which  has  become  one  of  the  most  barbaric  known 
in  history,  and  which  has  been  condemned  at  In- 
ternational Conventions. 

But  although  the  President  may    dictate    neu- 


Admiral  von  Tirpitz 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    81 

trality,  in  regard  to  the  European  conflict,  the 
American  Press,  ignores  his  exhortation  and  is  at- 
tacking Germany  in  a  most  unwarrantable,  most 
unfair  way,  both  in  articles  and  in  caricatures 
which  must  deeply  hurt  the  Kaiser  and  his  people 
who  have  always  been  our  friends,  and  have 
always  shown  themselves  friendly. 

It  is  very  regrettable  that  over  our  lurid  press 
there  is  no  government  control.  This  reminds  me 
that  one  evening  we  could  not  get  the  evening 
paper,  "Acht  Uhr  Abendblatt,"  and  discovered 
that,  owing  to  the  publication  of  an  incorrect 
article  the  day  before  the  publication  was  ordered 
to  be  discontinued  for  three  days,  the  paper  put 
in  prison,  so  to  speak. 

The  inflamed  attitude  of  the  American  press  is 
one  that  is  deeply  regretted  by  Americans  in  Ger- 
many and  Germans  in  America. 

The  utter  unreasonableness  of  the  fierce  attacks 
in  the  American  press,  inspired  by  the  French  and 
English  newspapers  on  the  Germans'  method  of 
dealing  with  Belgian  franctireurs,  and  their  houses, 
is  shown  by  the  proclamation  of  the  Russian  Gen- 
eral Rennekampf  to  the  inhabitants  of  East 
Prussia,  issued  on  August  4th — 

"Any  resistance  shown  by  the  inhabitants,  to  the 
Imperial  Russian  Army  will  be  unsparingly  pun- 
ished, and  this  without  distinction  of  age,  or  sex. 
Places  in  which  even  the  slightest  attack  is  made 
upon  the  Russian  army — or  in  which  opposition  to 
its  orders  are  shown,  will  be  at  once  burned  to  the 
ground." 


82    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  practice  against  franctireuring  has  always 
been  the  same  by  every  Government.  Lord  Rob- 
erts, in  like  cases  in  South  Africa,  burned  and  laid 
waste  the  Boer  farms.  Even  the  English  "West- 
minster Gazette"  published  the  letter  of  a  former 
Member  of  Parliament  in  which  he  said — "If  the 
civil  population  of  Louvain  suddenly  fired  from 
their  houses,  on  the  German  soldiers — a  just  pun- 
ishment must  have  followed  this  insane  act." 

It  is,  however,  the  first  step  which  costs,  and 
now  that  England  is  bound  to  uphold  the  Musco- 
vite and  the  Jap,  she  has  taken  the  step  which  will 
lead  her  to  subterfuges — intrigues,  and  shameless- 
ness  of  all  kinds,  among  which  malicious  falsehood 
will  seem  but  a  minor  vice. 

(We  have  been  in  Berlin  since  August  ist,  have 
read  the  various  German  papers  diligently,  and 
have  found  no  derogatory  allusions  and  untrue 
statements  referring  to  England). 

There  are  those  of  us  who  are  not  Englishmen, 
but  of  English  descent,  who  have  felt  hitherto  a 
certain  pride  that  such  was  the  case,  who  have  felt 
somehow  that  England  was  a  land  where  higher 
principles  prevailed  than  elsewhere,  that  her  great 
past,  and  her  great  traditions  would  not  allow  her 
to  go  wrong,  that  in  a  special  sense,  we  may  say, 
she  was  a  God-fearing  land. 

Alas,  that  has  all  vanished,  and  we  stand 
stunned  and  dazed,  as  one  does  who  hears  sud- 
denly of  a  crime  committed  by  an  acquaintance 
and  friend,  to  whom  one  has  been  accustomed  to 
look  up  to  with  respect  and  trust. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    83 

Germany  has  not  only  to  contend  with  the  Allied 
Forces  of  her  many  enemies,  but  with  the  cam- 
paign of  falsehood  and  misrepresentation  organ- 
ized by  England. 

All  German  successes  are  denied,  or  repre- 
sented as  victories  for  her  enemies,  and  malicious 
or  false  statements  as  to  the  internal  and  econom- 
ical conditions  now  existing  in  Germany  are  being 
sown  with  full  hands  by  the  English  Government 
and  press,  to  prejudice  Germany  abroad  and  espe- 
cially in  the  United  States. 

In  the  very  year  in  which  the  United  States,  on 
account  of  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  is 
looking  forward  to  a  new  epoch  of  peaceful, 
economic  conquest,  the  Japanese  have  given  the 
signal  for  the  rise  of  the  Yellow  Race,  by  the  in- 
tended theft  of  the  German  Colony  of  Kiautchou. 

The  fatal  results  will  have  to  be  borne  by  those 
nations  of  the  White  Race  that  are  most  interested 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  Americans  and  the 
Australians. 

As  long  as  Kiautchou  belongs  to  Germany  it 
represents  one  of  the  safeguards  of  a  policy,  which 
is  striving  to  secure  the  world's  commerce,  an  open 
door,  and  an  absolute  equality  of  rights  to  all 
nations  in  the  markets  of  the  Far  East. 

Should  Kiautchou  become  Japanese,  a  policy 
hostile  to  American  interests,  the  conquest  and  de- 
struction of  China,  would  be  strengthened.  It 
becomes  clear  that  Japan  and  Russia  aim  at  troub- 
ling and  weakening  China. 


84    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

If  Japanese  power  is  allowed  to  increase  in  Asia, 
it  means  not  only  the  principle  of  Asia  for  the 
Asiatics,  but  also  the  principle  of  the  Pacific  for 
the  Japanese. 

England  now  takes  Holland  in  her  mighty 
grasp,  and  threatens  the  Dutch  possessions  in  the 
East,  if  she  does  not  bow  the  head  and  bend  the 
knee.  But  history  goes  to  show  that  Great  Britain, 
has  not  always  been  true  even  to  her  Allies,  which 
Holland  knows  to  her  cost,  for,  about  two-hun- 
dred years  ago  for  the  sake  of  base  gain  England 
betrayed  and  plundered  her  Ally,  Holland,  and 
founded  the  World  Empire  on  the  spoil. 

At  the  time,  that  this  English  policy  of  perfidy 
and  brutal  selfishness  was  inaugurated  in  Europe 
(euphemistically  termed,  practical  politics),  Lord 
Marlborough  stated  in  the  English  House  of 
Lords,  "The  measures  pursued  in  England  for  a 
year  past  are  directly  contrary  to  Her  Majesty's 
engagement  with  her  Allies,  have  sullied  the 
triumphs  of  her  reign,  and  will  render  the  name  of 
England  odious  to  all  other  nations !" 

Really  the  history  of  the  English  Dominion  is 
a  chronicle  of  monstrous  intrigue,  a  tale  of  cynical 
violence. 

The  spectacle  is  rendered  even  more  obnoxious 
by  England  assuming  the  tone  of  integrity  and 
wrapping  herself  in  the  mantle  of  pious  hypocrisy. 

Her  thoughts,  efforts  and  endeavors,  are  spread 
broadcast  to  conceal  aggrandizement  under  the 
protection  of  duty  and  loyalty,  while  assuming  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    85 

role  of  defender,  of  "treaty  rights"  which  have 
always  been  disregarded  by  England  whenever 
they  stood  in  her  way. 

With  unconcealed  displeasure  and  with  active  and 
jealous  envy  England  has  watched  Germany  and 
her  rise  these  last  three  years.  The  same  jealousy 
consumes  her  against  America  and  the  Americans. 
The  future  will  reveal  it,  and  will  be  the  curtain- 
raiser  ! 

September  Sth.  The  capitulation  of  Maubeuge 
is  announced  to-day,  the  last  French  fortress  at 
the  Belgian  frontier.  Forty-thousand  prisoners, 
amongst  them  five-thousand  English,  four  Gen- 
erals, and  four-hundred  cannons.  Maubeuge  is 
near,  very  near  Cambrai,  where,  one-hundred  years 
ago,  Waterloo  was  won  by  Wellington,  through 
the  timely  aid  of  Blucher.  Cambrai  was  Welling- 
ton's head-quarters,  and  around  there  now  victory 
after  victory  is  won  by  the  Germans  and  what  is 
being  fought  for  now  has  been  brooding  for  one- 
hundred  years. 

September  14th.  These  days  are  days  of  wait- 
ing and  watching  for  news.  The  Germans  and 
French  are  in  a  death  struggle  on  the  borders  of 
the  Marne.  The  German  Crown  Prince  is  attack- 
ing Verdun.  In  the  East,  the  Northern  Russian 
army  has  been  beaten  and  pursued.  Everyone  feels 
the  strain  for  everyone  knows  the  decision  of  the 
battles  of  these  days  will  be  more  or  less  vital;  it 
is  really  the  crisis  in  this  European  disease,  and 
anxious  people,  and  anxious  faces  are  everywhere. 


86    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Germany  goes  to  war  to  defend  her  fireside,  her 
long  borders  and  broad  frontiers  with  a  clear  con- 
science and  a  clean  sword.  France  has  been  egged 
on  by  other  powers  to  seek  her  revenge  for  the  loss 
of  Alsace-Lorraine.  "La  guerre  de  revanche." 
Russia,  for  spoils  to  pay  her  French  debt  and  to 
find  a  way  to  lay  her  hand  on  Constantinople. 
Japan,  to  weaken  China,  and  for  the  wedge  within 
the  lute  to  make  the  Western  music  mute.  And 
England,  for  greed  and  gain. 

Germany,  in  her  unique  geographical  position 
and  encircled  by  malice  and  envy,  is  a  cake,  a  very 
rich  cake,  for  which  the  powers  are  hungry  to 
slice  up  between  themselves,  each  to  his  liking,  and 
each  to  have  a  goodly  portion. 

If  such  a  catastrophe  as  this  occurs,  there  will 
be  war  succeeding  wars  for  years  to  come;  even 
now  the  prisoners  of  the  Allied  Armies  quarrel 
between  themselves,  and  General  French  reported 
to  the  English  Government  that  he  was  informed 
too  late  by  the  French  about  the  real  strength  of 
the  advancing  German  army.  The  French  cavalry 
leader  General  Sordet  appeared  to  be  deaf  to  Gen- 
eral French's  urgent  messages  for  help,  and  French 
officers,  complained  about  the  unfitness  of  the 
English  troops  to  fight  in  a  Continental  war. 

The  English  press  comments  very  severely  upon 
the  Fall  of  the  Fortress  of  Namur,  so  each  of  the 
Allies  makes  the  other  responsible  for  their  defeat 
and  if  victory  comes  to  the  Allies,  quarrels  over 
defeats  will  be  as  nothing  compared  to  quarrels 
over  victories. 

It  will  be  a  repetition  of  the  story  of  the  Nibe- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    87 

lungenhort,  where  Fafner  and  Fasolt  fought  over 
their  partnership  spoils. 

England  is  puffed  up  with  pride.  Lord  Curzon, 
the  former  Viceroy  of  India,  declares  he  hopes  to 
see  the  Lancers  of  the  Bengal  cavalry,  glittering 
in  the  streets  of  Berlin,  and  dark-skinned  Gurkhas 
make  themselves  comfortable  in  the  Potsdam 
parks,  but  pride,  we  are  told,  in  Biblical  lore,  comes 
before  a  fall. 

British  arrogance  shown  by  the  words  of  the 
national  song — "Rule  Britannia,  Britannia  rules 
the  waves,"  exceeded  all  bounds,  when  it  went  to 
the  point  of  declaring,  even  grain,  contraband  of 
war  in  1778  and  contended  that  foreign  harbors 
could  be  blockaded,  by  a  single,  simple,  declaration 
of  the  British  Admiralty. 

Continental  Europe  was  stirred  at  the  pro- 
cedure; a  league  was  formed  in  1780,  to  protect 
the  neutral  powers  against  England  and  to  obtain 
recognition  that  the  neutral  flag  covers  the  ship 
and  its  corgo. 

Thus  England's  disease  of  the  present  day  can 
be  traced,  back  to  years  ago,  an  inheritance  of  the 
past,  an  atavism,  a  former  national  malady,  it  is 
in  the  blood. 

September  ijth.  This  is  the  state  of  things  as 
we  see  them,  and  the  state  of  war  shows  Germany 
fighting  with  determination  and  self-sacrifice 
against  great  armies  of  Russians,  never-ceasing 
armies;  for  where  one  regiment  does  down,  an- 
other springs  up  as  if  by  magic.  Never  ending 
hordes  of  armed  men,  to  be  met,  driven  back,  or 


88    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

conquered,  with  the  result  that  to-day  Germany 
has  successfully  driven  Russians  out  of  East 
Prussia,  and  the  situation  on  the  border  is  under 
control. 

In  Belgium  the  German  flag  flies  over  Brussels 
and  the  German  troops  are  supposed  to  be  attack- 
ing Antwerp. 

In  France  there  are  reports  of  advances  and  re- 
treats, of  fierce  fighting  by  day  and  night  of  great 
losses  on  both  sides,  the  whole  borderland  is  afire 
and  red  with  blood. 

The  end  is  not  yet,  and  we  hear  it  will  be  many 
days  more  before  decisive  news  comes ;  already  for 
twelve  days  this  battle,  of  one-hundred  and  fifty 
kilometers  has  been  going  on. 

The  German  army  is  guiltless  of  atrocities,  as  is 
testified  to,  by  the  joint  declaration  of  American 
war  correspondents.  These  correspondents  have 
spent  two  weeks  with  the  German  army,  accom- 
panying the  German  troops  hundreds  of  miles  and 
are  unable  to  confirm  rumors  of  the  mistreating  of 
prisoners,  or  non-combatants,  or  discover  a  single 
case  of  wanton  brutality.  This  declaration  is 
signed  by  five  correspondents  of  different  news- 
papers, consequently  our  hope  for  the  future 
largely  depends  upon  the  victory  of  German  arms. 

Dr.  Sven  Hedin,  the  famous  explorer  stays  as 
guest  of  the  Kaiser  at  the  Head-quarters  of  the 
German  armies  in  the  West.  Dr.  Hedin  has 
received  permission  to  enquire  in  all  reported  cases 
of  "German  atrocities"  and  to  write  impartial 
reports  on  the  miltiary  situation. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    89 

And  another  question  comes  up.  Have  Depart- 
ments of  State,  statesmen,  diplomats,  the  pleni- 
potentiaries, the  politicians  the  divine  right  to  form 
"Alliances  and  Entente"  and  "secret  treaties," 
without  consulting  the  will  and  the  wish  of  the 
people.  The  fighting  world,  the  suffering  world, 
the  innocent  world,  they  who  are  to  give  their  lives 
and  their  substance  for  the  fulfilment  of  these 
documents. 

The  great  arctic  explorer,  Nansen,  writes: — 
"The  responsibility  of  this  war  rests  with  the 
policy  of  Alliances.  The  end  of  one  war  is  the 
beginning  of  another  one,  disarmament  is  empty 
talk. 

"The  march  through  Belgium  under  breach  of 
neutrality  was  for  Germany  an  iron  necessity. 

"Norway's  position  is  not  worse  than  that  of 
Belgium,  but  not  better  either." 

State-craft,  Diplomacy,  so  often  controlled  by 
men  for  personal  ambitions,  personal  revenge,  per- 
sonal hatred,  how  many  worlds,  how  many  peoples, 
art  thou  responsible  for  and  in  thy  name  how 
many  crimes  committed? 

September  iyth.  The  American  President 
stands  for  the  strictest  neutrality,  the  spirit  of 
impartiality,  straightforwardness,  and  friendship 
towards  all  countries  concerned. 

"The  people  of  America  are  descendants  of 
many  nations  which  take  part  in  this  war — it  is 
natural  that  there  should  exist  the  most  diverse  sym- 
pathies and  wishes  as  regards  the  ultimate  result 


90    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

and  circumstances  of  the  conflict.  Passions  could 
be  easily  aroused,  and  America  divided  into  two 
hostile  camps,  to  take  part  in  this  war,  not  in  deed 
but  opinions,  which  would  hinder  the  country  in  its 
great  duties  as  the  natoin  of  peace — as  the  nation 
which  stands  aside  in  the  role  of  impartial  mediator, 
and  adviser  of  peace,  which  neither  sits  in  judg- 
ment over  others,  but  is  able  and  free,  to  do  what 
is  honest  and  disinterested,  and  truly  of  service  for 
the  peace  of  the  world." 

Idealism.  What  of  the  peace  and  for  how  long 
is  it  to  be  America  the  Silent? 

September  2.0th.  The  days  go  by  with  only 
vague  news  or  no  news  at  all. 

The  silence,  the  waiting,  is  terrifying  to  the 
individual,  and  to  the  country  at  large. 

The  battle  on  the  Western  border  now  is  two 
weeks  old,  never  ceasing  by  day  or  by  night. 

In  the  new  warfare,  the  battle-line  is  thin  and 
long.  It  is  officially  stated,  however,  that  these 
battles  in  France  are  taking  a  favorable  turn  for 
the  German  army. 

On  September  nth,  Germany's  prisoners  of 
war  numbered  two-hundred  and  twenty-thousand 
and  to-day  we  have  been  to  Doberitz,  where  three- 
thousand  British  prisoners  are  encamped. 

From  camp  to  canteen  they  are  well  provided 
for,  but  if  these  soldier  men  are  a  fair  sample  of 
England's  standing  army,  then  woe  to  fair  Eng- 
land in  the  field;  she  can  only  hope  for  laurels  on 
the  water. 

A  more    consumptive,    dejected,    ill-conditioned, 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    91 

ill-proportioned  lot  of  men,  one  could  go  far  to 
see, — no  strength,  no  muscle,  no  stamina. 

If  these  three-thousand  are  a  typical  showing, 
then  the  breed  is  done  for.  They  savor  more  of 
"les  miserables"  in  Whitechapel  than  the  rank  and 
file  of  an  army. 

On  the  1 6th  September,  the  German  Minister  in 
Copenhagen  gives  out  the  following  news: — 

England  fears  an  attack  of  Turkey  on  Egypt. 
The  Indian  troops,  forty  to  fifty-thousand  strong, 
expected  since  the  25th  of  August  have  not 
arrived,  cholera  or  revolution  is  the  reason  why. 
It  is  revolution!  So  England  asks  Japan  for  help 
in  India,  and  Japan  replies  on  the  following 
conditions: — 

"A  free  entry  in  all  the  British  Colonies  in  the 
Pacific,  a  loan  of  two-hundred  million  dollars,  and 
a  free  hand  in  China." 

England  agrees  to  these  conditions. 

The  result  of  this  is  that  the  feeling  'against 
Russia  and  England  is  steadily  growing  in  the 
Chinese  Republic,  England  is  accused  of  letting 
Japan  loose  against  China  by  the  granting  of  a 
free  hand  there  in  exchange  for  help  in  India, 
and  the  hostile  feeling  against  Russia  is  nourished 
by  the  order  of  the  Governor  of  St.  Petersburg  to 
expel  all  Chinese  merchants  from  his  district  dur- 
ing the  war. 

It  is  also  stated  in  Pekin  that  Japan  and  Russia 
have  signed  an  agreement  by  which  Japan  is  to 
occupy  Mongolia,  and  Manchuria. 

In  Chinese  Government  circles,  no  secret  is  made 


92    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

of  the  warm  sympathies  with  Germany  and 
Austria  which  grow  stronger  day  by  day. 

News  comes  from  several  sources  confirming  the 
rising  of  the  Egyptians  against  the  British  troops 
and  the  small  English  forces  in  the  interior  had  to 
withdraw  with  heavy  losses. 

The  Arabs  also  rise,  and  gather  in  thousands  to 
prevent  the  landing  of  British  troops  near  El 
Arish  and  Akaba,  and  this  hostile  feeling  has  been 
brought  about  by  the  prevention  of  the  return  of 
the  Khedive,  and  of  the  annual  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca. 

This  is  the  liberty  England  gives  as  Protectorate 
in  the  name  of  freedom. 

England  founded  her  enormous  Colonial  Empire 
by  force  and  unscrupulousness,  and  in  the  name  of 
liberty,  she  is  now  treating  Egypt  as  an  English 
colony,  disregarding  international  treaties,  and  her 
own  solemn  promise,  and  in  the  name  of  liberty, 
the  Malay  States,  one  after  another,  lose  their 
independence. 

And  the  first  rent  in  the  British  Empire  becomes 
visible  for  the  Boers  refuse  to  follow  General 
Botha  into  a  war  against  Germany,  and  General 
Beyer,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  South  Afri- 
can forces,  has  tendered  his  resignation,  which  was 
accepted  by  the  Government. 

General  Delarey  has  been  shot  by  mistake  and 
the  whole  Boer  community  are  strongly  convinced 
that  this  wanton  murder  is  a  parallel  to  the  murder 
of  Jean  Jaures  in  Paris. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    93 

But  the  English  are  not  warriors,  they  are  sports- 
men at  their  best  and  bullies  at  their  worst. 

The  "hand-shake"  at  Maubeuge  was  very  sports- 
manlike indeed.  However,  war  is  no  sporting 
event. 

There  is  no  shield,  no  belt  to  be  won, — this  fight 
is  for  national  existence — a  price  which  the  Eng- 
lish do  not  value  for  they  have  never  had  to  fight 
for  it. 

Their  island  was  always  safe,  whether  Danes, 
Romans,  Saxons  or  Normans  invaded  and  ruled  it. 

The  whole  English  nation,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, is  unable  to  grasp  the  idea  of  a  danger  to 
their  nationality,  whereas  centuries  of  warfare  in 
the  centre  of  the  European  Continent  have  taught 
Germans  to  be  united,  and  prepared;  otherwise 
they  would  fall  a  prey  to  the  hunger  for  territory 
of  other  States. 

This  is  no  theory  history;  it  has  been  demon- 
strated over  and  over  again. 

And  the  arming  and  fighting  against  foreign  ene- 
mies has  sharpened  and  quickened  the  sense  of  the 
so-called  Hun. 

Rudyard  Kipling  writes :  "Wake !  for  the  Hun  is 
at  the  gate!" 

Is  it  possible  that  any  one  can  compare  the  per- 
fectly disciplined  German  army,  in  the  ranks  of 
which  stand  thousands  of  graduates  of  the  noble 
universities  of  Gottingen,  Heidelberg,  Leipzig  and 
Berlin,  to  the  most  barbaric  and  destructive  of  the 
races  of  antiquity? 

The  same  poet  years  ago  wrote  a  bitter  indict- 


94    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

merit,  to  warn  England  against  her  present  ally, 
Russia,  to  which  he  likens  the  latter  to  "The  bear 
that  walks  like  a  man." 

The  fight  in  these  forty- four  years  of  peace  has 
been  transferred  from  the  field  of  battle  to  the  field 
of  science,  industry  and  commerce,  and  the  military 
training  has  not  been  the  least  of  the  factors  to- 
wards winning  honors  in  these  fields  also,  as  the  na- 
tion realized  it  would  have  to  be  again  on  the  battle- 
field to  secure  the  fruits  of  these  labors. 

The  German  is  known  over  land  and  sea  to  do 
things  thoroughly,  one  of  the  things  the  Germans 
will  do  thoroughly,  however,  is  to  fight. 

As  we  view  the  battle-field  to-day,  most  of  the 
crack  regiments  of  Great  Britain's  army  have  been 
swept  away,  and  the  calling  in  of  Japanese,  Indians, 
Hottentots  and  Kaffirs,  in  the  defence  of  Christi- 
anity and  humanity,  against  the  so-called  German 
barbarism  is  a  necessity  and  speaks  for  itself. 

England  has  thrown  off  the  white  man's  burden, 
and  asked  colored  races  to  carry  a  white  burden, 
and  the  Japanese  in  their  new-born  alliance,  allude 
to  the  war,  against  the  "white  peril,"  and  the  Brit- 
ish to  the  "invasion  of  the  Huns." 

If  what  is  reported  from  the  German  Embassy 
at  Pekin  is  true,  namely,  that  Japan  promises  to 
help  England  for  certain  concessions,  then  the  fate 
of  the  British  Empire  is  sealed. 

This  unbelievable,  this  gigantic  war,  is  to  be  the 
clearing  house  of  the  nations  and  national  values 
will  be  irrevocably  changed. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    95 

September  2$th.  A  German  submarine  has 
caught  the  British  fleet  napping,  U  No.  9,  com- 
manded by  Capt.  Otto  Weddigen  is  successful  in 
destroying  three  mighty  English  cruisers,  and  all  on 
board  receive  the  Iron  Cross  for  this  daring  deed, 
a  pretty  brave  feather  in  the  cap  of  the  German 
navy. 

Any  success  that  is  scored  in  the  navy,  is  wel- 
comed with  joy  by  the  German  nation,  for  their 
fleet  is  considered  so  inferior  in  size  and  numbers 
to  that  of  the  English  enemy. 

The  battle  in  France  stands  the  same,  a  deadlock, 
so  to  speak.  There  are  advances  and  repulses  on 
both  sides  and  great,  great  losses,  each  army 
warily  watches  for  a  weak  spot  in  the  line  of  the 
enemy. 

The  heel  of  Achilles,  must  be  uncovered  before 
any  decisive  victory  be  forthcoming. 

Rheims  burning,  the  cathedral  doomed,  with  its 
wondrous  old  facade,  its  glorious  colored  windows 
of  the  Christ-life,  with  softly  woven  tapestries,  and 
its  godly  shrines  doomed,  for  the  French  in  their 
own  land,  with  their  own  treasures,  play  false  by 
using  the  spire  as  a  signal  station,  after  both 
armies'  agreement  to  put  the  historical  old  building 
under  the  protection  of  the  white  flag.  Thus,  a  gem 
of  France  is  sacrificed  by  France's  own  act,  and 
General  Joffre  is  forced  to  issue  an  order  for 
strong  punishment  to  all  French  soldiers  who  rob 
and  plunder  in  their  own  country,  yet  Germany's 
enemies,  and  they  are  legion,  protest  against 
criminal  acts  of  German  troops. 


96    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

General  French,  of  the  British  Army,  has  asked 
for  the  Victoria  Cross,  the  highest  military  order  in 
England,  which  is  only  given  for  acts  of  heroism 
on  the  battle-field  for  General  Smith-Dorrien,  who 
has  been  able  to  withdraw  his  army  so  quickly  that 
it  only  sustained  slight  losses.  Realize  it.  The 
Victoria  Cross  for  heroic  retreat.  And  Major 
Yat,  of  the  Yorkshire  Light  Infantry,  a  prisoner- 
of-war,  in  Torgau,  escapes,  but  fearing  the  conse- 
quences of  his  admission  of  the  use  of  the  Dum- 
Dum  by  his  own  soldiers  commits  suicide. 

As  an  onlooker  in  Venice,  one  must  go  into  the 
addition  and  subtraction  of  this  various  news  that 
comes  from  the  border — to  arrive  at  a  fair  total; 
but  figures  don't  lie,  and  one  so  often  thinks,  "what 
will  the  world  say,  or  what  will  the  world  do," 
about  this,  that,  or  the  other  atrocity  or  misdeed,  or 
damning  policy  of  war  dishonesty — and  in  silent 
dumbfoundedness  we  realize,  there  is  no  world  left 
to  say,  there  is  no  world  left  to  do,  as  the  great 
cause  of  America's  neutrality,  as  stated  by  the  Pres- 
ident is,  that  we  are  every  nation  at  war,  we  are  the 
compressed  out-put  of  all  the  warring  European 
races.  We  can't,  we  must  not  be  disintegrated, 
even  for  the  sake  of  Right  or  Wrong  of  other 
nations,  even  for  the  great  crying  cause  of 
humanity. 

The  only  voice  loud  enough,  strong  enough,  to 
•cry  out,  stop,  or,  I  stop  you,  the  only  voice  that 
would  be  listened  to,  is  silent,  for  we  Americans 
have  made  ourselves,  we  live  to  ourselves,  we  live 
for  ourselves,  we  are  wedded  and  welded  together, 


ID 


c 
o 

> 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    97 

and  we  must  not  be  rifted  by  the  disturbances  of 
our  various  forbears. 

So  there  is  left  no  Court  of  Appeals ! 

One  is  very  much  impressed  with  the  fact  demon- 
strated by  this  European  turmoil  that  all  nations 
fear  England. 

In  America,  we  shrug  our  shoulders  and  speak 
of  the  proximity  of  Canada,  in  Holland  they  must 
keep  and  guard  their  Pacific  possessions. 

In  Spain  there  is  one  thing,  and  in  Scandinavia 
another,  and  so  on,  but  over  all,  if  one  looks  deep 
into  the  very  heart  of  things,  one  finds,  the  senti- 
ments of  a  people  may  tend  this  way  or  that — but 
under  all,  over  all,  is  more  or  less  the  fear  of  Eng- 
land. 

Supreme  on  land  and  sea. 

She  is  a  cross  old  Grand-dame,  who  threatens 
and  who  promises. 

Irascible  in  her  will  she  takes  away  the  sweets 
and  thrashes,  or  she  holds  out  her  protection  and 
promises  as  the  case  may  be — but  Europe  has  not 
thrown  off  the  yoke  of  English  fear,  so  long  carried, 
and  if  America  wants  to  call  her  soul  her  own,  it 
behooves  her  to  let  the  Cramp  Yards  and  all  the 
other  yards  ply  the  anvil  and  the  hammer  and  let 
the  Senate  and  the  House  vote  and  voice  unani- 
mously— a  bigger — greater  Navy. 

Only  the  beginning  of  the  reflex  pains  of  war 
now  come  to  America  over  the  seas. 

Those  who  thought  that  they  and  their  country 
was  forever  immune  from  the  contagion  of  battle, 
now  realize  that  one  part  at  least,  of  our  body 


98    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

national,  shows  symptoms  of  illness,  and  a  very 
vital  part  at  that. 

A  war-tax  is  to  be  levied,  one-hundred  million 
dollars  must  be  raised  for  the  deficit  caused  by  this 
European  war.  This  will  wake  us  rudely  from  our 
sleeping  dreams. 

The  tempest  across  the  sea  was  announced  to 
Europeans  by  long  and  threatening  thunder,  but  to 
Americans  it  came  as  a  thunder-bolt  from  a  clear 
sky,  and  the  bolt  struck  near  enough  to  smell 
sulphur. 

Many  of  us,  I  am  sorry  to  admit,  have  expected 
to  watch  a  European  war,  as  a  spectacle,  a  fero- 
cious, savage,  monstrous  spectacle,  to  be  sure, 
nevertheless  a  spectacle. 

Now  we  are  drawn  into  the  picture,  and  it  is 
suddenly  brought  to  our  notice,  that  the  modern 
world  is  bound  together  by  such  close  ties  that  a 
blow  struck  anywhere,  makes  its  effect  felt  every- 
where. 

So  it  has  not  taken  long  for  us  to  feel  the  crisis 
by  direct  experience,  the  closing  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, the  whole  trans-atlantic  steam-boat  service 
in  confusion,  mails  stopped,  freight  stopped,  pas- 
sengers left  where  they  happen  to  be,  German  cables 
cut!  Until  it  all  seems  a  horrible  nightmare,  the 
whole  world  is  topsy-turvy! 

And  there  are  many  other  things,  mostly  un- 
pleasant, that  make  us  aware  that  the  tender  threads 
of  the  great  net  of  international  relations  cannot 
be  broken  without  making  us  all  feel  the  effects — 
the  rise  of  prices — the  increase  of  taxes — and  of 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    99 

many  products,  we  have  hardly  enough  for  our  own 
needs,  and  many  others  must  of  necessity  be  im- 
ported, for  the  one-hundred  millions  of  humans 
must  be  fed,  and  we  have  not  lent  a  listening  ear 
to  the  urgent  voice,  so  long  and  insistently  calling 
for  a  merchant  marine. 

How  strange  to  have  to  pay  a  war  tax  when  we 
are  at  peace  with  the  whole  world;  but  the  loss  in 
custom  duties  alone  is  about  five-hundred  millions, 
which  has  to  make  good  one  way  or  another;  but 
neutrality  costs  something  in  money,  or  in  blood, 
or  both. 

For  some  time,  and  in  many  ways,  the  United 
States  will  be  the  sole  provider  of  the  world,  but, 
in  the  meantime,  the  bills  have  to  be  paid. 

And  all  America,  big  and  little,  was  making 
ready  to  spread  a  great  feast,  and  bid  all  nations 
come  to  the  City  of  the  Golden  Gate. 

These,  so  far,  are  the  national  effects  of  the 
European  war — the  personal  effects  will  be  many 
and  far-reaching. 

October  yd.  Aachen.  We  are  on  the  Belgian 
border-line,  where  one  feels  the  throbbing  pulse  of 
war,  at  its  highest  fever  mark. 

The  railroad  journey  from  Berlin  was  wonder- 
fully comfortable  and  wonderfully  interesting. 

The  train  service  is  exact. 

Many  officers,  troops  and  Red  Cross  men  on 
board,  fresh  for  the  front,  all  quiet  and  happy,  and 
eager  to  arrive,  all  so  hopeful,  all  so  confident  of 
an  ultimate  success,  no  matter  how  hard  the  work, 
no  matter  how  high  the  price. 


100    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

It  is  the  law  of  "ich  muss"  that  governs  the  in- 
dividual, that  governs  the  nation,  that  follows,  that 
admits  of  no  failures. 

The  stubbornness  of  the  German,  a  trait  that  we 
often  complain  of  in  our  playground  of  personal 
relationship,  is  in  the  strife  of  battle,  a  telling  fac- 
tor of  success. 

The  German  line  holds  their  ground  and  are 
slowly  advancing,  they  are  patiently  looking  for- 
ward to  this  long  postponed  victory. 

The  life  on  the  tracks,  in  the  stations,  is  inter- 
esting in  many  ways — to  look  at  a  people  at  close 
range  in  war-time  is  no  mean  study. 

There  is  train  after  train  of  troops,  they  are  all 
gay  and  laughing,  smoking,  reading  papers,  writing 
over  the  cars  in  broad  chalk  letters,  such  amusing 
phrases  as — 

Jeder  Schuss  ein  Russ 
Jeder  Stoss  ein  Franzos' 
Jeder  Tritt  ein  Brit' 
Jeder  Klaps  ein  Japs 

and  calling  out  "Auf  Wiedersehen,  hiibsche  Schwes- 
ter,"  and  greeting,  cheering  the  out-going,  incoming 
trains ! 

And  train  after  train  of  hospital  cars  going  to 
fetch  the  wounded. 

Many  beds  are  swung  in  one  car,  each  car  has 
its  medical  attendant,  and  a  dining  car  where  every- 
thing necessary  can  be  secured. 

And  train  after  train  of  ammunition,  each  car 
guarded,  and  the  strange-looking  old  wooden  coun- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    101 

try  wagons  with  their  deadly  load  of  explosives, 
are  covered  with  green  branches. 

We  throw  the  papers  to  the  soldiers,  who  tell  us 
they  have  been  on  the  journey  some  fifty-six  hours, 
and  are  bound  "nach  Antwerpen,"  with  their  42 
centimeter  bombs  and  all  sorts  and  sizes  of  mu- 
nition. 

The  railway  stations  are  practically  in  charge  of 
the  Red  Cross,  where  bright-faced  girls  dole  out 
hot  coffee,  sandwiches  and  so  forth,  not  forgetting 
cheery  greetings. 

They  are  so  amusing  to  look  at,  these  soldier 
boys,  with  their  chubby  faces,  flowers  in  their 
epaulettes,  stuck  in  their  boot-tops,  pinned  on  their 
coats,  worn  in  their  caps — at  every  station  a  posy 
for  good  luck,  which  makes  them  look  like  some 
gay  cavalcade  off  for  a  holiday,  instead  of  troops 
going  to  face  the  mouth  of  the  cannon,  the  ring  of 
the  shrapnel,  the  roar  of  the  mortars. 

Aachen,  this  century  old  imperial  city  of  the 
Romans,  renowned  for  its  sulphur  baths,  where  the 
ancients  came  for  their  pains  and  pleasures,  is  to- 
day a  city  of  hospitals,  nearly  every  hotel  is  a  La- 
zaret, and  the  Red  Cross  flag  flies  from  many  a 
window,  that  has  erstwhile  looked  on  the  everyday 
scenes  of  a  counting-house,  a  gay  restaurant,  com- 
mercial life  or  private  dwellings. 

And  the  Red  Cross  Army,  the  doctors,  nurses, 
even  dogs  that  wear  the  order,  and  the  war-hero 
convalescent,  fill  the  streets,  and  make  up  the  pass- 
ing throng. 

Motors  whizz  in  and  whizz  out,  great  grey  army 


102    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

motors,  bringing  in  or  taking  out  their  loads  of 
officers,  motors  with  the  Red  Cross  which  covers  the 
whole  back  of  the  machine  are  bringing  in  the 
wounded,  and  whole  trains  of  motors  leaving  for 
the  field,  packed  with  love-gifts,  Liebesgaben,  the 
warm  woolen  things,  cigars,  cigarettes,  illustrated 
papers,  candies,  blankets,  everything  that  everybody 
thinks  of,  for  the  man  fighting  for  his  country, 
aside  from  the  necessary  supplies. 

Many  of  these  machines  are  given  and  driven  by 
their  owners,  and  their  mission  does  not  end  here, 
for  they  give  quick  transport  to  the  sick  from  the 
field. 

Here  in  Aachen  one  is  not  so  much  in  touch  with 
news  as  in  Berlin,  but  one  is  more  in  touch  with 
military  feeling  and  sentiment. 

Many  a  young  man  comes  out  of  these  awful 
battles,  battles  of  machines  just  as  much  as  battles 
of  men,  with  hair  turned  grey  and  body-bent,  as 
well  as  with  shot-wounds. 

The  terror  of  modern  warfare  is  stamped  on 
every  face,  the  nerve-strain,  the  body-rack  has  left 
its  trace,  but  courage  of  mind  and  heart  is  not 
shaken,  the  one  desire  is — recovery — to  rejoin  their 
regiment. 

There  are  many  sad,  there  are  many  awful  tales 
that  are  told,  and  the  feeling  against  England  and 
the  English  runs  high. 

In  passing  through  Cologne,  we  are  told  on  re- 
liable sources,  that  the  English  prisoners  brought 
there  had  curved  knives  in  their  boots;  but  one 
could  not  go  so  far  as  to  credit  it  with  belief. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    103 

And  an  officer  in  the  hotel  where  we  are  stopping 
objected  to  the  waiter  taking  our  orders  in  English, 
and  on  enquiry,  I  was  told  that  out  of  seven-hun- 
dred men  he  had  one-hundred  and  fifty  left  owing 
to  English  troops  raising  the  white  flag.  His 
soldiers  advanced  for  a  truce  to  receive  fire  from 
two  trenches  of  armed  men.  Two  wounded  pri- 
vates have  told  us  the  same  story. 

The  English  then  use  the  white  flag,  as  a  decoy 
duck,  so  to  speak,  to  lead  the  enemy  into  the  range. 
If  we  had  not  been  told  this  personally  we  could 
have  not  believed  it. 

It  only  goes  to  show  the  result  of  the  English 
militarism  of  these  past  years,  fighting  only  with 
savages  and  half-breeds,  upon  whom  they  deemed 
it  unnecessary  to  waste  time  and  ammunition  in 
aught  but  tricky  warfare,  they  have  got  into  the 
habit  of  it.  Dishonest  in  warfare,  as  well  as  dis- 
honest in  politics. 

For  many  years,  England  has  stood  as  a  pedestal 
of  virtue,  the  pedestal  is  smashed  to  atoms  and 
England  lies  low  in  a  mire  of  disgrace. 

October  $th.  One  month  ago  to-day  the  battle 
in  France  commenced.  This  has  developed  into  a 
world's  game  of  chess,  with  pawns  of  shrapnel  and 
granite,  and  it  looks  largely  as  if  the  victory  will 
be  to  the  one  who  places  men  and  machines  to  the 
best  advantage. 

There  is  no  discouragement  in  the  German  offi- 
cer, in  the  German  soldier;  the  answer  is  always — 
"Wir  miissen  siegen"  and  that  ends  the  question. 

It  is  this  law  that  runs  through  the  web  and 


104    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

woof  of  their  make-up,  that  makes  the  strength  of 
the  German  army  indomitable. 

All  the  same,  this  is  a  very  grave  time,  a  very 
grave  anxiety,  net  only  to  Germany,  but  to  the 
world  at  large  and  many  hearts  are  rent  in  twain 
by  personal  losses. 

One's  admiration  of  the  German  army,  of  the 
German  character,  of  the  German  strength  and  self- 
sacrifice,  grows  stronger  day  by  day. 

There  are  many  returned  invalided  from  the  bat- 
tle-field, who  wear  the  Iron  Cross,  both  old  and 
young. 

An  aged  General,  past  his  three  score  years  and 
ten,  proudly  wearing  the  first  order,  but  bent  and 
broken  after  eleven  days'  battle. 

The  young  lieutenants  who  have  done  and  dared 
beyond  the  dreams  of  bravery,  and  the  flyers  who 
go  and  know  they  go  almost  to  certain  death,  have 
done  deeds  heroic  beyond  compare. 

We  hear  that  thirty-eight  thousand  Iron  Crosses 
have  been  bestowed,  but  after  watching  the  long, 
slow-moving  trains  of  wounded,  creeping  through 
wood  and  dale,  every  day  bringing  in  their  load  of 
suffering,  dying  humanity,  when  we  pass  through 
the  streets  fairly  thronged  with  bandaged  men,  the 
lame,  the  halt,  the  blind,  when  we  think  of  the  dead 
upon  the  battle-fields,  those  who  are  prisoners  of 
war  and  those  dragging  out  weary  days  on  beds  of 
sickness,  then  all  the  iron  in  Germany  cannot  be 
fashioned  into  a  Cross  too  much,  for  those  who 
have  fought  in  the  thick  of  these  battles  are  one 
and  all  heroes. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    105 

We  feel  very  much  the  stranger  in  this  war-far- 
ing city  of  soldiers,  hospitals  and  what  not,  and 
never  hear  a  word  of  our  mother-tongue  and  when 
we  hear  the  sound  of  American  lingo  it  sounds  like 
music  to  our  ears. 

Two  men  just  in  from  the  front  in  dark,  field 
uniforms  are  American  war  correspondents.  What 
a  great  thing  for  Germany  that  at  last  there  are 
eye-witnesses  to  tell  the  tale,  to  write  the  story  to 
the  mis-informed  neutral  power  of  America.  How- 
ever, a  German's  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond.  He 
may,  at  times  be  uncouth,  but  he  is  always  honest. 
At  least,  we  in  America  believe  this,  or  we  would 
not  continue  our  fast-growing  relationship  of  com- 
merce and  cultural  intercourse  with  a  dishonest, 
lying,  thieving  nation. 

We  are  too  careful  tradesmen  for  that.  A  Ger- 
man statement,  even  in  war  times  can  be  relied 
upon,  but  in  face  of  the  gross  mis-statements  of 
events  that  one  reads,  for  instance,  in  the  "Daily 
Mail"  of  London,  where  calumnies  and  untruths 
are  transmitted  by  cable  and  otherwise  over  the  At- 
lantic, it  is  a  very  good  thing  for  Germany  and  for 
the  future  opinions  of  all  nations  and  especially  the 
United  States  that  American  war  correspondents 
are  now  to  be  allowed  to  be  for  a  time,  at  least, 
with  the  German  army. 

They  come  in  an  absolutely  neutral  spirit,  as 
strict  non-partisans  and  if  there  is  any  shadow  of 
feeling  to  be  detected,  one  way  or  another,  it  is  the 
shadow  of  Western  opinion  opposed  to  Germany, 
concurred  by  journalistic  misrepresentation.     But 


106    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

at  least,  they  come  with  keen  eyes  and  quick  ears 
to  learn  the  truth,  to  send  home  the  truth,  and  if 
there  is  anything  condemnatory  to  the  country  and 
to  the  warfare  of  the  Kaiser,  it  will  fairly  fly  over 
the  cables  to  inform  all  America. 

So  far,  Mr.  Cobb  and  Mr.  McCutcheon  have 
been  twice  in  Belgium  with  the  army,  in  Louvain 
for  four  days  and  have  just  returned  from  the 
battle-front  in  France  and  are  unable  to  report  a 
single  case  of  atrocity,  cruelty,  drunkenness,  or  any 
kind  of  disorder;  they  speak  most  highly  of  the 
strictness,  discipline,  and  humanity  of  the  German 
officers  and  men,  their  endurance,  fortitude,  devo- 
tion to  their  cause,  and  never  failing  courage. 

In  Maubeuge  they  found  a  depot  of  Dum-Dums 
of  French  manufacture,  where  sixty-thousand  cart- 
ridges were  stored  in  sealed  boxes  bearing  the  man- 
ufacturers' name,  year  191 3,  also  the  model  of  1908 
and  on  an  outside  wrapper  the  destination.  We 
have  seen  the  original  photograph  of  the  depot  and 
further,  have  seen  the  original  photograph  of 
wounds  made  by  the  Dum-Dum  shot. 

The  two  photographs  were  of  leg  wounds  and  of 
thigh  wounds,  on  German  soldiers  taken  in  the  field 
hospitals.  At  the  entrance  of  the  shot,  the  wound 
is  not  bigger  than  the  top  of  a  little  finger,  and 
where  it  comes  out,  one  could  easily  put  a  fist  in 
the  jagged  hole.  What  a  pity  these  correspondents 
were  not  in  Louvain  on  the  25th  of  August  to  give 
the  lie  to  the  oath  that  the  Belgian  Commission  sent 
to  President  Wilson. 

We  hear  that  in  America  there  is  a  great  wave 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    107 

of  indignation  all  over  the  country  against  the 
Kaiser,  who  is  supposed  to  be  the  cause  of  this 
bloody,  death-dealing  conflict. 

The  Kaiser,  in  the  land  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
has  long  been  represented  as  a  picturesque  war  fig- 
ure— the  War  Lord — who  followed  the  call  of  the 
trumpet  for  gain  and  glory,  a  military  poseur, 
whose  devouring  ambition  was  to  be  reckoned  as  a 
modern  Frederick  the  Great,  or  Napoleon  come  to 
victory,  who  loves  the  distraction  of  the  waving 
helmet,  clink  of  sword,  and  the  glittering  trappings 
of  battle  array,  who  is  willing  to  sacrifice  the  pre- 
cious lives  of  his  subjects  and  to  bring  dire  distress 
and  destruction  to  all  nations,  simply  to  satisfy,  the 
over-weening  love  of  a  Conqueror,  to  ride  victori- 
ously at  the  head  of  a  victorious  army  through  the 
Brandenburger  Tor,  over  rivers  of  blood. 

One  is  sorry  to  admit  that  this  is  more  or  less, 
and  decidedly  more,  the  popular  repute  of  the 
Kaiser  in  our  Western  hemisphere. 

As  a  matter  of  fact — War  Lord — the  misnomer 
which  we  have  translated  to  mean  the  very  Lord 
of  War  is  from  "Kriegsherr"  meaning  the  leader 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  by  constitutional  right,  the 
same  right  as  is  held  by  the  King  of  England  and 
the  President  of  the  United  States. 

If  the  Kaiser  really  wanted  war,  why  did  he 
allow  the  opportunity  to  pass,  to  strike,  when  he 
could  have  done  so  more  conveniently  than  to- 
day? 

During  the  twenty-six  years  of  his  reign,  the 
German  Emperor  has  succeeded  in  keeping  the  Eu- 


108    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

ropean  peace.  Carnegie,  our  advocate  of  world 
peace,  only  a  few  months  ago  paid  this  so-called 
War  Lord  a  great  tribute  in  the  name  of  the  lovers 
of  peace,  a  tribute  to  his  peace  work;  so  that  for 
Americans  to  state  now,  that  His  Majesty  wanted 
war,  only  to  wear  the  laurels  of  ambition  for  him- 
self, is  a  very  great  injustice. 

If  he  had  wanted  to  draw  the  sword,  he  has 
often  had  opportunity  and  opportunities,  which 
could  have  been  much  more  favorable  for  him  than 
the  present  situation. 

When  the  Russian  Empire  was  at  war  with 
Japan,  the  Kaiser  was  ten  years  younger  and  Ger- 
many covered  the  back  of  the  Russian  forces  and 
ten  years  after  his  coming  to  the  throne  the  Drey- 
fus affair  in  France  gave  the  war-chance  if  there 
had  been  a  wish  to  seize  it  through  the  accusation 
that  Germany  was  playing  her  hand  in  this  game. 

Then  came  the  Boer  war,  when  Germany  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  the  call  of  the  Russians  and  the 
French.  France  was  up  in  arms  about  Fashoda 
and  urged  Germany  to  attack  Great  Britain  while 
she  was  engaged  in  war  in  South  Africa. 

Did  the  Kaiser  move?  Did  the  Kaiser  strike? 
Or  did  he  keep  the  peace? 

The  Agadir  incident  offered  war,  if  war  had 
been  so  eagerly  wanted;  but  the  Kaiser  stood  firm 
as  a  rock  of  peace  against  the  storm  of  war  clouds 
that  darkly  threatened. 

He  not  only  hated  war,  but  avoided  every  chance 
for  a  war. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    109 

In  Brussels,  since  the  German  occupation  many- 
important  documents  have  been  found,  which  bring 
convincing  evidence  that  Belgium  also,  for  several 
years,  has  been  partner  of  this  plot,  that  King  Al- 
bert had  sacrificed  the  so-called  neutrality  of  his 
country  to  British  ambitions  and  arrangements  and 
by  an  official  statement  we  learn  that  the  arrange- 
ment for  the  landing  of  British  troops  on  the  Bel- 
gium and  French  coast  and  their  transportation  to 
the  German  border  have  been  perfected  in  every 
detail,  more  than  a  year  ago — all  ready  for  the 
signal  come  in  what  form  or  face  it  may. 

Germany  has  reached  the  decisive  point  of  her 
life.  She  must  be  grandly,  gloriously  victorious 
over  the  hydra-headed  enemy,  she  must  reign 
supreme  in  Europe,  by  force  of  might  and  right 
and  end  these  attacks  of  war  which  sap  her  life- 
strength  and  for  ever  keep  up  a  European  turmoil, 
or  Germany  the  Vanquished,  will  revert  to  her 
former  Kingdom,  State  of  small  powers,  and  small 
principalities  and  in  the  future  be  of  no  national 
account  on  sea  and  land. 

The  U.  S.  and  Germany,  two  nations  of  different 
languages,  but  practically  the  same  ethics,  must 
know  one  another  better.  Every  barrier  that  is  in 
the  way  of  a  common  meeting  ground  should  be 
hastily  done  away  with,  for  at  no  distant  day,  the 
greatest  nation  of  the  Western  hemisphere,  and 
this  Teuton  nation  of  Europe,  holding  to  the  same 
tenets  of  national  honesty,  law  and  morality,  the 
only  two  great  powers  left  in  the  world  not  allied 
with  the  Muscovite,  the  Yellow  Race,  the  weak, 


110    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

decadent  Latin,  may  be  drawn  together  against  a 
common  foe. 

Germans  and  Americans  for  the  most  part  know 
one  another  only  in  a  commercial  world,  in  the 
trading  circles. 

We  bring  over  their  rarest  song-birds  and  tal- 
ented orchestra-leaders,  and  present  Wagner  as  it 
is  done  nowhere  else  and  are  coming  to  the  meeting 
of  the  ways  in  literature,  by  the  interchange  of  uni- 
versity professors  and  in  science  and  medicine,  we 
are  more  or  less,  borrowing  literally  from  the 
Germans. 

Outside  of  diplomatic  circles  in  Washington,  one 
rarely  meets  a  German  in  America,  not  counting 
the  German-resident  in  business. 

The  class  of  German  men  corresponding  to  that 
of  the  English  gentleman,  the  British  peer,  rarely 
crosses  the  Atlantic,  for  this  class  in  Germany  are 
all  officers  of  the  army,  who  seldom  leave  their 
country  and  consequently  are  an  unknown  quantity 
to  the  man  in  the  States. 

Our  women  seldom  meet.  The  German  is  told 
her  American  sister  is  a  pretty  doll,  petted  and 
pampered,  ignorant  and  purse-proud  and  in 
America  we  think  only  of  German  feminity  as  the 
trained  Hausfrau,  with  her  counting-book,  taught 
in  the  ways  of  thrift  and  homely  virtues;  but  the 
graces  of  womanhood  as  far  beyond  her  as  her 
frills  and  furbelows. 

Our  politicians  and  men  of  affairs  rarely  clasp 
hands  across  the  sea  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Emperor  and  some  influential  Americans. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    111 

We  have  no  common  meeting  ground  for  sports, 
in  racing,  yachting,  polo,  horse-shows  and  so  forth 
and  so  to  speak,  the  German  world,  and  the  Ameri- 
can world,  are  strangers,  one  to  another,  except  in 
the  counting-house. 

Americans  seldom  travel  in  Germany.  They  go 
to  the  Spas,  the  cures,  and  then  are  off  to  enjoy 
the  joys  and  pleasures  of  their  regained  health  on 
the  play-grounds  of  England  and  France. 

So,  on  the  whole,  when  we  sum  it  up  we  have 
hardly  a  bowing  acquaintance  with  the  Germans 
and  we  are  very  apt  to  believe  what  we  are  told, 
or  what  we  see  in  print  and  really  don't  care  very 
much  whether  we  do  or  not. 

Now,  it  behooves  us  to  care.  America  must 
watch  with  a  keen  eye,  the  development  of  these 
wars,  and  lend  an  understanding  mind  and  be  on 
guard  for  the  whole  world  is  in  danger,  and  who 
knows  but  sooner  or  later  America  and  Germany 
may  be  jointly  called  to  share  the  responsibility  of 
the  new  order  of  things  terrestrial  and  it  may  also 
be  that  only  these  two  countries  together  can  swing 
back  the  balance  of  the  world. 

October  gth.  Antwerp  has  fallen  after  a  twelve 
days'  siege,  General  Beseler  and  his  army  have 
entered  in. 

On  the  28th  of  September  the  first  shot  was  fired 
and  on  the  7th  of  October,  according  to  the  rules 
of  The  Hague  Convention,  the  bombardment  of 
the  town  was  announced. 

Too  loath  to  lead  her  own  flesh  and  blood  in  this 


112    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

war,  showing  the  desperate  lengths  to  which  she  is 
reduced  by  calling  the  Asiatic  and  Muscovite 
for  aid — whom  her  own  Colonies  Canada  and 
Australia,  are  unwilling  to  have  within  their  bor- 
ders, too  brutal  to  consider  human  feelings,  Eng- 
land leads  Belgians,  as  well  as  Indians  to  the 
slaughter  house  and  deeds  of  horror  have  accom- 
panied this  breakdown  of  the  Belgian  country 
which  called  to  the  heavens  for  revenge. 

The  Belgian  King  was  inclined  to  hand  over 
Antwerp,  but  England  said  "No."  England  took 
command  of  the  harbour  and  destroyed  German 
vessels.  Antwerp,  therefore,  is  a  victim  of  English 
brutality  and  selfishness,  with  Grey  and  Churchill 
as  the  guilty  parties,  the  Lord  High  Executioners, 
for  after  the  brave  defence  the  surrender  of  the 
town  of  Antwerp  would  not  have  spelt  disgrace  to 
the  Belgians  and  the  catastrophe  of  Antwerp  will 
remain  for  ever  in  British  history  a  monument 
of  shame,  a  warning  example  to  nations  to  put  not 
their  faith  and  trust  in  England. 

On  Great  Britain's  shoulders  rests  the  responsi- 
bility that  the  most  beautiful  and  prosperous  town 
of  the  Belgians,  the  home  of  Rubens,  and  the  his- 
toric Plantain  Museum,  has  been  exposed  to  bom- 
bardment and  fire. 

The  punishment  fits  the  crime,  and  Antwerp 
with  its  treasure-trove  bows  the  head  and  bends  the 
knee  to  German  arms. 

Brialmont's  proud  fortress  could  not  resist  the 
German  mortars  any  longer. 

The  heathen  may  rage  and  the  British  imagine 


The  Czar  of  Russia  and  the  English  King 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    113 

vain  things,  but  the  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly 
but  they  grind  exceeding  small. 

Nothing  that  has  happened  since  August  ist  can 
be  compared  to  the  taking  of  Antwerp  and  its  con- 
sequences. 

By  this,  the  entire  conquest  of  Belgium  has  be- 
come a  fact  and  Belgium  falls  as  the  first  victim 
of  Sir  Edward  Grey,  the  executor  of  the  will  of 
Edward  the  VII. 

It  also  proves  the  fact  that  the  Germans  have 
studied  the  war  on  fortresses  better  than  any  other 
nation. 

Destruction  for  the  time  is  greater  than  construc- 
tion, and  with  this  in  mind  they  have  turned  their 
science  and  skill  to  the  42  cm.  gun  and  other 
strange  and  terrible  weapons. 

The  art  of  fortification  has  not  kept  the  same 
pace  as  the  development  of  artillery,  which  is 
proved  by  the  present  war  and  which  has  consid- 
erably shaken  and  shattered  the  confidence  in  all 
kinds  of  fortification. 

Like  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  they  stand  as  a 
picturesque  picture  of  ancient  times  and  ancient 
warfare. 

October  13th.  The  rumors  that  have  been  cur- 
rent of  Belgium's  double  dealing  are  officially  con- 
firmed to-day  by  the  Government  Gazette  namely: 
that  the  German  military  authorities  since  the  occu- 
pation of  Brussels  have  found  in  the  captured 
archives  of  the  Belgian  war  office  most  important 
documents,  proving  beyond  question,  the  fact,  that 


114    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

there  existed  a  military  and  naval  convention  be- 
tween Belgium  and  the  Powers  of  the  Entente. 

The  captured  state  papers,  now  in  possession  of 
the  German  Government  in  Berlin,  are  convincing 
and  condemnatory,  beyond  any  shadow  of  doubt. 

The  contents  of  a  "dossier"  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion "Intervention  anglaise  en  Belgique"  states 
clearly  that  as  far  back  as  1906,  the  plan  was  per- 
fected to  send  the  British  Expeditionary  Force 
into  Belgium  in  the  case  of  a  Franco-German  war. 

In  a  letter  of  the  Chief-of-Staff  of  Belgium  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  April  10th,  1906,  he 
writes:  "That  after  repeated  sessions,  repeated 
interviews  and  consultations  with  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Barnardiston,  the  British  Military  Attache 
in  Brussels,  he  has  upon  his  request,  brought  to  a 
conclusion  a  detailed,  military  plan  of  joint  opera- 
tions, consisting  of  a  British  Expeditionary  Force 
of  one-hundred  thousand  men,  with  the  Belgians 
against  Germany. 

This  plan  was  agreed  to  by  the  British  Chief-of- 
Staff,  Major-General  Grierson. 

Whereupon  the  Belgian  General-of -Staff  was 
then  furnished  all  details  as  to  the  strength  and 
the  systematical  placing  and  arrangement  of  the 
British  troops,  all  information  as  to  the  intended 
harbors  of  embarkation,  time-tables  for  transporta- 
tion of  troops,  supplies  and  so  forth,  and  upon  the 
basis  of  this  information  the  Belgian  General-Staff 
prepared  and  perfected  the  plan  of  campaign  to 
the  veriest  detail,  including  the  transportation  of 
British  troops  into  the   Belgian   zone   of   concen- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    115 

tration,  also  the  arrangement  for  interpreters  to 
accompany  the  British  army,  the  care  of  their 
wounded,  and  the  arrangement  for  Belgian  gen- 
darmes to  be  placed  at  their  disposal. 

The  joint  working  of  the  two  armies  was  thus 
studiously,  minutely  planned,  and  had  gone  so  far 
in  completion. 

As  Dunkirk,  Calais  and  Boulogne  are  named  as 
the  harbors  of  landing  for  the  British  troops, 
it  becomes  clear  that  also  the  French  railroads  must 
be  used,  consequently  the  French  General  Staff 
must  also  have  agreed  to  this  procedure. 

The  three  powers  have  drawn  their  plans  to- 
gether and  the  documents  speak  quite  plainly  of 
the  "Allied  Armies." 

A  map  of  the  French  concentration  is  found  and 
Colonel  Barnardiston  regrets  that  it  is  impossible 
to  count  upon  Holland's  help  and  connivance  and 
communicates  confidentially  the  intention  of  the 
British  Government  to  make  Antwerp  the  base  of 
supplies  for  the  British  troops,  as  soon  as  all  Ger- 
man men-of-war  have  been  swept  off  the  North 
Sea  and  directs  Belgium  to  create  an  espionage 
service  in  the  Rhine  provinces. 

The  secret  material  also  contains  a  report  of 
Baron  Greindl — for  many  years,  the  Belgian  Min- 
ister in  Berlin. 

The  plan  of  the  combined  General  Staffs  has 
come  to  his  knowledge  and  on  the  23rd  December, 
191 1,  he  makes  a  sharp  criticism  of  Great  Britain's 
naive  and  perfidious  offers. 


116    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

So  the  contents  of  all  these  secret  documents 
given  to-day  by  the  press  to  the  people  prove  that 
the  information  in  the  hand  of  German  authorities 
about  this  plot,  was  not  far  wrong,  but  very  right 
and  is  a  complete  explanation  and  justification  of 
Germany's  military  behavior  on  the  first  days  of 
August. 

This  publication  of  secret  documents  will  be  an 
eye-opener  for  the  Belgian  people  and  to  all  the 
neutral  powers  and  will  proclaim  to  one  and  all  the 
villain  in  the  plot,  and  to  whom  Belgium  is  indebted 
for  the  enormous  catastrophe  which  it  has  under- 
gone. 

So,  at  last,  proof  is  in  the  hands  of  Germany 
that  Belgium  became  a  secret  Ally  of  the  Entente. 

But  what  a  strange  coincidence,  that  on  the  very 
same  day,  the  12th  of  October,  the  day  on  which 
the  German  Government  published  part  of  the 
discovered  documents,  the  London  Times,  in  igno- 
rance of  these  discoveries,  published  the  follow- 
ing:— "Neutrality  was  a  fateful  gift  for  Belgium." 
It  prevented  her  from  negotiating  any  kind  of 
military  or  other  treaties  and  making  agreements 
to  secure  the  rapid  and  decisive  help  of  her  English 
friends. 

The  English  and  Belgian  Staff  could  make  no 
suitable  plans  for  military  preparations,  troop 
transports,  Railway,  Commissary  service,  etc.,  with- 
out considering  the  matter  as  strictly  violating 
neutrality. 

Sir  Edward  Grey's  speech  of  August  3rd,  1914, 
denies  that   England   is  under   any   obligation   to 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    117 

France;  but  admits  that  since  1906  a  military  and 
naval  convention  has  existed  between  them. 

And  of  such  is  the  book  of  revelations  whicrTIs 
given  us  to  read. 

October  14th.  If  one  could  be  in  Rotterdam  or 
Rosendaal  these  days,  what  a  panorama  of  tragedy 
could  be  seen. 

Thirty-thousand  British,  French  and  Belgian 
soldiers,  and  three-hundred  thousand  refugees  of 
all  classes,  from  point-lace  and  diamonds  to  the 
homely  homespun,  soldiers  and  civilians,  bankers 
and  beggars,  sane  and  insane,  all  fleeing,  flying,  by 
train  and  wagon,  on  foot,  anyway,  anyhow,  with 
possessions,  without  possessions,  a  flight  out  of 
Antwerp  from  the  incoming  German  army. 

Save  about  forty-thousand  inhabitants,  Antwerp 
is  deserted,  only  hungry  dogs  left  to  feed  off  dead 
horse-flesh. 

The  raging  fires  caused  by  the  Belgians  igniting 
petroleum  tanks  are  being  extinguished  by  German 
soldiers  and  Antwerp  is  saved. 

The  Belgian  prisoners  complain  very  much  of 
the  English.  For  instance,  the  Commandant  of 
Antwerp,  then  an  Englishman,  had  assured  the 
citizens  that  they  would  have  an  English  army  of 
one-hundred  and  twenty-thousand  men  (which 
should  have  arrived  eight  days  earlier)  but  when 
it  came,  it  consisted  of  barely  twenty-five  thousand 
and  not  the  Belgians,  but  the  English  first  took 
flight  when  the  powerful  German  mortars  knocked 
down  one  fort  after  the  other. 


118    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  Belgian  fugitives  in  Holland  are  being  en- 
treated to  return,  not  only  by  the  German  officials 
but  by  the  small  band  of  Belgian  inhabitants  who 
have  remained  and  find  the  German  occupation  far 
from  a  fearful  thing. 

The  one  and  only  thing  the  British  accomplished 
was  the  destruction  of  provisions  valued  at  two- 
hundred  million  francs,  without  the  permission  of 
the  Belgian  authorities. 

But  the  City  of  Antwerp,  lying  so  proudly  by  the 
deep,  broad  Scheldt,  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses 
in  the  world,  one  of  the  greatest  seaports  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  principal  arsenal  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Belgium,  is  rescued  from  destruction  of  shot  and 
shell. 

Stamped  with  its  mediaeval  prosperity,  adorned 
by  its  magnificent  cathedral,  on  the  walls  of  which 
hang  Rubens  far-famed  winged  picture  of  the  "De- 
scent from  the  Cross,"  rich  in  its  possession  of 
the  masterpieces  of  art,  Antwerp  is  saved! 

Aachen,  October  i$th.  In  the  beautiful  Aachen 
Stadtwald  which  circles  this  old,  imperial  city, 
where  pine  and  beech  are  such  close  neighbors  that 
the  sun's  rays  rarely  break  through,  on  a  high  knoll 
in  the  clearing,  stands  the  Bismarck  Tower.  Hewn 
of  rough  stone,  rising  high  and  bold,  with  bas  re- 
liefs of  Bismarck,  Moltke  and  Roon,  it  holds  aloft 
a  crowned-formed  crate  in  which  a  great  bon-fire 
burns  on  Bismarck's  birthday. 

These  Bismarck  towers  are  all  over  Germany. 
In  this  way  the  Germans  burn  incense  to  his  mem- 
ory on  his  fete-day  and  it  is  opposite  here,  in  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    119 

deeps  of  the  pines,  where  they  are  laying  their 
heroes  to  rest. 

It  is  very  touching  this  new-begun  soldier  city 
of  the  dead.  Three  times  a  week  funerals  of  not 
less  than  sixteen,  those  dying  of  wounds  in  Aachen. 

This  is  Catholic  Germany  and  in  the  waning  twi- 
light of  these  gold  October  days,  these  crowds  of 
grief-bowed  people  go  homeward  through  the  silent 
pinewoods  chanting  their  "Ave  Marias." 

But  it  makes  but  scant  difference  if  one  wanders 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left  out  of  Aachen,  or  through 
the  ancient  city  gate,  at  every  turn  and  corner  there 
are  signs  and  traces  of  war.  From  afar  one  sees 
the  wounded  being  brought  in  and  the  prisoners,  a 
motely  crowd  of  Sengalese,  Zouaves,  English  and 
so  forth,  all  treated  with  good  temper  by  the  Ger- 
man soldiers,  who  break  bread  with  them,  and  offer 
them  cigarettes;  for  they  are  all  comrades  in  arms, 
each,  no  matter  the  race,  fighting  for  his  country. 

And  we  drive  into  the  borderland  of  four  coun- 
tries where  Holland,  Germany,  Belgium  and  Mor- 
esnet  join  lands  and  even  venture  across,  the 
Belgium  frontier  and  go  into  Gimmelbach,  the 
beginning  of  the  franctireur  district,  where  the 
first  disturbances  occurred. 

It  is  such  a  pretty,  peaceful  little  village  in  its 
setting  of  green  hills  and  green  meadows,  it  is  hard 
to  realize  that  tragedy  has  written  a  blood-red 
chapter  across  its  pages. 

There  are  the  signs  that  tell  the  story,  houses 
where  they  first  fired  on  the  German  troops  are 
razed  to  the  ground  and  notices  of  warning  to  the 


120    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

inhabitants,  posted  on  the  outside  walls  by  the 
Commander  of  the  passing  army.  At  this  time,  in 
one  room  three  hostages  are  held,  the  best  known 
men  of  the  village  and  at  the  breaking  of  the  law 
by  any  one  citizen,  their  lives  are  a  sacrifice. 

Summary  justice! 

We  hear  plainly  the  firing,  they  are  trying  the 
new  guns  at  Liittich,  and  on  this  road  the  army  has 
passed  and  the  road  is  rutted  and  broken. 

The  Landsturm  guards  are  all  good-humored  and 
have  made  themselves  huts  of  leaves  and  thickets, 
for  the  protection  against  the  early  frost;  one  is  an 
acrobat  by  trade  and  has  his  trained  dog  with  him 
who  affords  much  amusement  and  is  just  as  serious 
in  doing  good  guard  work  as  his  master. 

On  the  other  side  of  Aachen  nestled  in  hill  and 
valley  is  the  St.  Rafael  Hospital  with  its  black- 
robed  sisters  of  sainted  lives  and  sainted  faces, 
nursing  the  wounded,  caring  for  the  dying. 

The  life  of  Aachen  so  varied,  but  always  of  war 
— to  the  war,  from  the  war,  will  never  be  forgot- 
ten. It  leaves  sad  but  brave  memories  of  Germany, 
and  Germany's  warrior  sons. 

Berlin,  October  21st  Back  to  Berlin  we  find  the 
dark,  dreary  days  have  come,  the  saddest  of  the 
year;  the  trees  are  nude  of  their  green,  the  fore- 
runner of  winter  is  in  the  air;  there  is  a  touch  of 
color  in  the  autumn  chrysanthems  that  adorn  the 
public  squares,  and  in  the  heather-ladened  window- 
boxes  of  the  avenues ;  but  there  is  the  darkness  of  a 
German  autumn;  and  the  darkness  of  a  German 
war  over  all. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    121 

The  battles  on  the  French  border  and  in  France 
are  as  strenuous  and  stubborn  as  ever. 

The  entrenched  soldiers  on  both  sides  have  been 
enduring  the  fighting  for  weeks,  without  practically 
a  marked  change  of  position. 

There  is  little  progress  one  side  or  another,  ad- 
vance, repulse,  repulse,  advance,  is  the  daily  chron- 
icle, and  the  week's  record,  though  the  Germans 
believe  they  are  slowly  gaining. 

The  French  have  the  great  advantage  of  fighting 
in  their  own  country,  where  every  inch  and  hill  and 
cranny  of  the  "terrain"  is  known  and  the  great 
advantage  also  of  the  help  of  their  civilian  country 
population,  this  combined  help  must  be  very,  very 
great,  and  very  saving  in  man  and  machines  to  the 
French  army. 

In  looking  ahead  there  seems  to  be  no  time  limit 
in  the  battle  arena. 

What  throw  of  the  dice  will  win  this  game  of 
war  no  one  knows,  a  re-enforcement  of  numbers, 
endurance,  some  new  strategy  or  what;  but  this 
strain  on  all  countries,  on  all  people  is  very,  very 
great. 

In  the  East  the  German  army  advances  towards 
Warsaw. 

The  German  Officials  in  Antwerp  urge  the 
refugees  to  return  and  take  up  their  former  life 
under  the  protection  of  the  German  Government. 

The  German  army  pushes  on  through  Ostend  to- 
wards Dunkirk.  Here  one  dreads  to  think  what 
the  battles  will  be.  England  is  putting  forth  all  her 
forces  on  sea  and  land  to  guard  the  French  Coast. 


122    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Germany  is  absolutely  dauntless  in  her  onward 
march,  in  her  onslaughts. 

This  will  be. the  fiercest  struggle  that  has  ever 
been  seen  in  the  world's  history,  the  extermination, 
the  sacrifice,  of  hoards  and  hosts  of  armored  men, 
will  go  on,  day  by  day,  night  by  night,  never  ceas- 
ing until  Germany  conquers,  or  is  conquered. 

Although  their  losses  are  enormous  the  Germans 
are  not  dismayed  or  discouraged,  they  believe  in 
their  supremacy  on  land,  they  believe  in  their  ulti- 
mate victory,  they  believe  in  the  right  of  their  cause, 
and  defence  of  their  country;  they  possess  the  faith 
that  removes  mountains. 

As  a  people,  as  a  populace,  they  show  great 
strength  of  character,  they  wait  patiently,  they  suf- 
fer silently,  they  go  on  their  way  bravely,  there  are 
no  hysterics  of  victory,  there  are  no  hysterics  of 
losses. 

They  work  in  millions  of  ways  in  the  cities,  to 
aid  the  millions  of  men  in  the  field. 

Even  those  who  are  not  in  sympathy  with  this 
country  or  its  people,  are  in  great  admiration  of 
Germany  and  the  Germans,  under  the  stress  of  war. 

The  gigantic,  far-spreading  work  of  war  is  a 
potent  portion  for  their  suffering,  and  to  add  to  this 
they  have  now  three-hundred  thousand  prisoners  to 
care  for,  including  three  Belgian,  six  French  and 
eighteen  Russian  Generals. 

We  hear  the  English  have  lost  several  Corps 
Commanders,  amongst  them,  Herbert  Hamilton,  the 
General  who  started  his  military  career  as  a  ranker, 
and  also  that  there  is  quite  a  campaign  in  London 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    123 

against  Winston-Churchill,  the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty. 

Neither  the  First  Lord,  nor  the  First  Sea-Lord, 
Prince  Battenberg,  nor  the  combination  of  the  two, 
convinces  the  nation,  that  the  navy  is  led  by  the 
best  of  talents.  If  Winston-Churchill  remains  in 
the  Admiralty,  his  activities  must  be  restricted  to 
his  own  duties. 

The  fact  remains  that  eight-thousand  untrained 
men  were  sent  to  Antwerp  to  defend  the  city 
against  the  trained  forces  of  Germans. 

The  English  marines  were  turned  into  artillerists 
in  the  short  space  of  a  few  days  and  one  even  with 
the  slightest  military  experience,  could  foresee  the 
failure  of  such  an  undertaking. 

When  the  German  artillery  fire  set  in,  the  men 
had  to  leave  the  guns  where  they  were  and  the 
retreating  English  were  so  hard-pressed  they  did 
not  stop  until  they  had  reached  Ostend. 

Now  the  battle  is  for  the  control  of  the  Channel 
Coast. 

The  fight  is  raging  round  Ypres  where  the  Allies 
have  brought  powerful  reinforcements. 

The  English  warships  bombarded  Ostend  and 
will  doubtless  play  their  part  now. 

Official  reports  state,  one-hundred  and  sixty- 
thousand  Japanese  are  landed  at  Danij,  on  the  Yel- 
low Sea,  to  be  transported  to  German  and  Austrian 
frontiers,  twenty-thousand  on  their  way  to  India  to 
take  the  place  of  the  Indian  troops  which  have  been 
sent  to  France  and  may  also  be  used  against  Turkey, 
should  the  Sublime  Porte  cast  her  lot  with  Ger- 


124    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

man  and  Austria,  and  one-hundred  thousand  held 
in  readiness  for  Russia  and  France. 

So  Japan  is  admitted  to  the  battles  and  confer- 
ence of  things  European. 

European  preference  in  the  East  has  thereby  been 
sacrificed,  and  the  gates  thrown  open  to  the  Yellow 
danger. 

Not  content  with  this,  barbarian  and  semi-bar- 
barian mobs,  are  imported  to  let  loose  on  a  civilized 
European  nation. 

Truly,  the  English  Government  has  done  more 
harm  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  by  taking  up  arms 
against  the  German  people  than  can  be  repaired  by 
centuries  of  missionary  efforts  and  millions  of  mis- 
sionary gifts. 

And  when  one  thinks  and  says  that  England  has 
committed  a  sin  against  civilization  one  merely  re- 
peats an  expression  used  some  months  ago  by  Lord 
Haldane  himself  in  a  protest  against  this  war  that 
has  been  signed  and  issued  by  some  of  the  noblest 
of  English  scholars  and  public  men. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  believe  and  realize  that  these 
events  are  world's  facts  to-day. 

England's  foresight  and  fore-thought  has  created 
a  French  Gibralter. 

For  two  years  England  has  rented  grounds  and 
buildings  in  Havre,  and  for  two  years  has  been 
garrisoning  five-thousand  men  there  with  a  Dread- 
nought station  in  Havre  harbor. 

This  is  only  the  beginning.  England  wants  a 
station  on  the  Continental  coast  from  which  to 
rule  the  channel. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    125 

It  is  the  same  method  which  was  employed  when 
England  occupied  the  Rock  of  Gibralter. 

England  is  powerful  in  her  diplomacy,  she  out- 
ranks all  powers  in  this  subtle  game. 

Her  diplomacy  is  supreme  and  has  been  since  the 
Elizabethan  age. 

October  18th.  The  time  has  come  for  us  to 
leave  Germany,  after  three  months  of  war-time,  in 
which  we  have  seen  the  country,  her  sons  and  her 
sons'  sons  fighting  so  bravely  and  her  daughters 
living  so  self-sacrificingly. 

The  most  salient  feature  of  the  German  nation 
during  the  throes  of  the  present  time,  has  been  the 
absolute  unanimity  of  judgment,  purpose  and  spirit, 
that  characterizes  every  class,  rank  and  calling. 

The  losses  are  great,  but  according  to  their  code, 
the  life  of  the  soldiers,  battalions  and  army  corps 
and  the  life  of  the  individual  counts  not  in  com- 
parison to  the  life  of  the  nation. 

The  state  out-lives  the  individual. 

Generation  after  generation  die  and  disappear, 
but  the  country  must  live  on  to  develop  into  great- 
ness and  power  and  for  the  protection  and  prestige 
of  their  Fatherland,  they  are  brought  up  and  live  in 
the  belief  that  they  must  aim,  work,  sacrifice  and 
die,  for  the  greatness  of  the  Empire. 

This  training  and  belief  produces  a  race  like  the 
Spartans  of  old,  they  are  taught  and  trained  to  en- 
dure; it  makes  a  country  stronger  than  the  strong 
protection  of  walls  and  ramparts. 

But  every  big  character  has  small  faults ;  so  with 


126    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

nations,  and  the  war  whatever  the  decision  may  be 
will  revolutionize  many  things  in  Germany. 

That  is  most  decidedly  the  "handwriting  on  the 
wall." 

There  is  much  prejudice  and  class  feeling  to  be 
overcome,  much  narrowness,  much  medievalism  in 
form  and  feature  of  social  life  that  to  the  onlooker 
seems  stage-play  and  makes  of  these  people  a  dif- 
ferent people  from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

It  comes  from  living  in  a  room  with  the  door 
locked  and  bolted ;  few  go  out,  fewer  come  in ! 

Consequently  they  are  demode  in  their  views  of 
life,  and  he  who  thinks  differently,  acts  differently, 
who  becomes  free  from  the  bondage  of  ancient 
ideas,  customs  and  prejudices,  he  who  goes  among 
other  worlds,  other  peoples,  is  condemned  by  the 
old;  he  has  flown  the  nest. 

Two  traits  stand  out,  they  are  naturally  sus- 
picious and  hyper-sensitive.  All  this  is  most  regret- 
table, for  it  shuts  out  much  understanding,  much 
intercourse  to  those  who  are  not  "we  Germans." 

But  with  such  a  Kaiser,  such  a  virile,  vital  race, 
such  an  army,  which  is  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
Empire,  and  such  a  navy,  everything  can  be  done 
and  one  has  only  sympathy  and  admiration  for  this 
magnificently  disciplined  and  cultured  nation,  facing 
North,  South,  East,  West,  to  repel  its  foes  on  land 
and  sea. 

There  are  many  who  think  and  believe  that  the 
situation  involves  nothing  less  than  the  reshaping 
of  Europe  by  Teutonic  hands. 

It  is  a  new  European  Empire  swinging  into 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    127 

being  and  if  Europe  doesn't  like  it,  Europe  will 
have  to  fight  over  the  matter  for  years  to  come; 
for  German  ascendancy  seems  as  inevitable  as  sun- 
rise to-morrow. 

There  are  many,  too,  who  think  that  while  the 
cost  seems  fearful  and  wholly  unnecessary,  yet  old 
Europe  is  no  more. 

The  Europe  of  the  future  will  be  a  freer,  a  more 
released,  a  more  democratic  Europe,  which  is  the 
only  sheen  of  light  in  the  fearful  darkness  which 
now  falls  upon  Europe. 

But,  finally,  as  to  the  outcome  not  much  can  yet 
be  said  as  there  is  nothing  so  idle  as  prophecy. 

One  of  our  great  American  professors,  who 
knows  Germany  and  the  European  situation  from 
long  years  of  study  and  experience,  writes: 
"Whether  the  Giant  of  Middle  Europe  will  be  able 
to  break  the  bonds  which  in  the  last  ten  years  have 
been  wound  about  him,  and  under  whose  smarting 
cut  he  is  now  writhing  or,  whether  the  fetters  will 
be  rivetted  together  cannot  easily  be  fore-told. 

But  assuming  the  one  or  the  other,  we  may  spec- 
ulate with  some  degree  of  accuracy  regarding  the 
political  situation  which  will  result. 

The  triumph  of  Germany-Austro-Hungary  can 
never  be  so  complete  as  to  make  any  changes  in  the 
present  map  of  Europe. 

All  that  could  effect  would  be  the  momentary 
abandonment  of  the  Russian  Pan-Slavic  program, 
the  relegation  to  dormancy  of  the  French 
"Revanche"  and  the  stay  of  Great  Britain's  hand 
from  the  destruction  of  German  commerce.     On 


128    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

the  other  hand,  the  triumph  of  Great  Britain-Rus- 
sia-France, cannot  fail  to  give  Russia  the  mastery 
of  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  restore  Great 
Britain  to  her  sovereignty  over  the  seas.  These 
two  great  powers,  who  now  already  between  them 
possess  almost  the  half  of  the  whole  world,  would 
then,  indeed,  control  the  destinies  of  the  earth. 

Well  may  we  draw  back  in  dismay  before  such  a 
consummation.  The  "rattle  of  the  sabre"  would 
then  be  music  to  our  ears  in  comparison  with  the 
crack  of  the  Kossack's  knout  and  the  clanking  of 
Siberian  chains,  while  the  burden  of  taxation  which 
we  would  be  obliged  to  suffer  in  order  to  create  and 
maintain  the  vast  navy,  and  army  necessary  for  the 
defence  of  our  territory  and  commerce  throughout 
the  world  against  these  gigantic  powers,  with  their 
oriental  Ally,  Japan,  would  sap  our  wealth,  en- 
danger our  prosperity,  and  threaten  the  very  exist- 
ence of  republican  institutions. 

This  is  no  time  for  shallow  thought  or  flippant 
speech.  In  a  public  sense  it  is  the  most  serious  mo- 
ment of  our  lives.  Let  us  not  be  swayed  in  our 
judgment  by  prejudice  or  minor  considerations. 
Men  and  women  like  ourselves  are  suffering  and 
dying  for  what  they  believe  to  be  the  right,  and  the 
world  is  in  tears.  Let  us  wait  and  watch  patiently, 
and  hope  sincerely  that  all  this  agony  is  a  great 
labor-pain  of  history  and  that  there  shall  be  born 
through  it  a  new  era  of  prosperity,  happiness  and 
righteousness  for  all  mankind." 

All  the  help  that  in  the  small  way,  as  strangers, 
we  have  been  able  to  give,  is  not  the  tithe  of  what 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    129 

we  wanted  to  give  and  with  regret  and  reluctance, 
we  go  away  from  Germany's  capital  and  Germany's 
people. 

We  can  only  wish  and  hope  that  yet  some  unseen, 
some  unknown  power,  will  pour  oil  on  these 
troubled  European  waters  and  that  sooner  than  we 
think  or  hope,  there  may  be  Peace. 

The  Hague,  October  25th.  We  have  come  from 
a  country  at  war  to  a  country  in  peace. 

The  change  is  impressive.  No  grey  army  motors, 
Red  Cross  nurses,  wounded  on  stretchers  and  the 
military  from  the  sunrise  to  the  starlight. 

Just  peace  over  the  dunes,  over  the  flat  green 
landscape,  over  the  people! 

The  realm  of  Queen  Wilhelmina,  so  rich  and  far 
spreading  in  its  Colonies,  so  prosperous  and  peace- 
ful at  home,  with  its  windmills  and  saboted  people, 
stands  firm,  in  its  neutrality,  holds  out  helping 
hands  to  all  refugees,  of  all  nations,  opens  her  heart 
and  her  purse  and  accepts  no  recompense. 

Holland  is  unique ! 

The  Hague  has  been  the  centre  of  the  most  im- 
portant diplomatic  transactions  in  the  world. 

The  time  has  long  faded  into  the  past  when  Hol- 
land was  counted  among  the  great  powers — when 
her  Fleet  swept  the  North  Sea  with  a  broom  at  the 
mast-head. 

But  Holland  has  remained  great  as  a  land  of 
science  and  art,  as  a  land,  too,  of  ideas,  and  this 
has  led  to  The  Hague  being  chosen  as  a  place  of 
meeting  for  the  first  Peace  Conference. 

In  the  stately  pleasure  palace  in  the  House  of 


130    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Orange,  Het  Huis  ten  Bosch,  The  House  in  the 
Wood,  representatives  of  all  countries  met  on  the 
initiative  of  Czar  Nicholas  of  Russia,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1898  and  there  the  foundations  were  laid 
for  further  discussion,  there  the  permanent  Court 
of  Arbitration  was  founded. 

The  first  step  to  realizing  the  Beautiful  Ideal  was 
taken  when  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias  made  his 
appeal  to  the  Emperors,  Kings  and  Presidents  of 
the  Old  and  New  Worlds. 

Hope  which  lay  slumbering  in  many  hearts  was 
awakened  after  this  first  conference,  which  was  at 
first  only  a  vague  passing  thing,  passing  before  the 
eyes. 

Then  it  was  that  Andrew  Carnegie  gave  a  great 
fillip  to  the  movement. 

On  the  Scheveningen  road,  by  his  gift,  stands  the 
imposing  Palace  of  Peace — the  International  Court 
of  Arbitration — a  library  of  the  law  of  nations. 

The  copy  of  the  Act  of  Donation  signed  on  the 
7th  of  October,  1903,  at  the  Castle  Skibo  in  Scot- 
land reads  as  follows: 

"Believing  that  the  establishment  of  a  permanent 
Court  of  Arbitration  by  the  Treaty  of  the  29th 
July,  1899,  is  the  most  important  step  forward  of  a 
world-wide  humanitarian  character,  which  has  ever 
been  taken  by  the  Joint  Powers — as  it  must  ulti- 
mately banish  war — I,  Andrew  Carnegie,  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  am  willing  to  furnish  the  sum  of  one 
and  a  half  million  dollars,  for  the  said  purpose, 
which  sum  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Netherlands  Government." 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    131 

When  one  stands  before  this  "Court  of  the  Peo- 
ples of  the  Earth,"  on  the  edge  of  the  Dunes  of 
this  continuously  reclaimed  land  of  Holland — the 
gift  of  one  born  in  the  Scottish  Highlands — the 
plan  of  an  architect  from  Lille;  where  to-day  many 
nations  are  struggling  in  deadliest  strife  around  the 
citadel  which  is  supposed  to  be  Vauban's  master- 
piece— then  this  brave  pile  of  stone,  finished  but 
a  year  ago,  the  house  of  the  permanent  Court  of 
Arbitration,  which  is  ultimately  to  banish  war, 
stands  as  a  tragedy  and  travesty  to  the  ken  of 
human  sight. 

Every  country  has  sent  a  gift  to  the  Peace 
Palace,  and  in  view  of  war  history  and  war  events 
of  the  present  day,  it  is  very  strange  to  pause  and 
ponder ! 

The  great  monumental  gates  which  close  the 
broad  avenues  are  from  Germany — they  bear  the 
emblems  of  the  scales  which  Justice  holds  and  the 
Gordian  knot  which  Alexander  once  severed  to 
solve  the  riddle — and  the  entrance  doors  of  wrought 
iron  and  the  bronze  inner  doors  are  presented  by 
Belgium,  admitting  to  the  vestibule,  which  leads  to 
the  grand  staircase,  lit  by  gilded  candelabra,  Aus- 
tria's gift — and  the  grand  staircase  itself  comes 
from  The  Hague. 

Immediately  above  the  main  entrance  stands  a 
statue  of  Peace  sheathing  the  sword  of  war. 

And  it  is  as  if  out  of  the  dark  foliage  which 
surrounds  the  open  space,  that  something  very  light 
and  very  fine,  has  stepped  into  the  open — just  as  if 


132    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

universal  peace,  after  dark  centuries  of  sanguinary 
strife  will  come! 

The  first  stone  was  laid  by  Baron  Nelidoff,  the 
Russian  Ambassador,  and  bears  the  inscription 
"The  generosity  of  Andrew  Carnegie  has  delegated 
this  house  of  Peace  to  be  maintained  by  Justice." 

But  all  the  treaties  of  peace — all  the  peace  com- 
pacts and  contracts  that  can  ever  be  written — all 
the  Peace  Palaces  that  can  ever  be  built — can  never 
banish  war. 

There  will  be  always,  War  and  Rumors  of  War. 

It  has  been  from  the  Beginning. 

It  will  be  to  the  end. 

We  find  people  of  all  classes — of  all  races  in  this 
capital  city  of  the  Netherlands — a  great  number  of 
Russians  and  Belgians,  and  diplomats  from  every- 
where— a  mosaic  of  humanity — a  mosaic  of  in- 
terest ! 

Seven-hundred  thousand  Belgian  refugees  have 
sought  and  found  an  asylum  here — thirty-thousand 
military  are  interned. 

So  the  Dutch  are  housing  and  feeding  consider- 
ably more  than  one-tenth  of  their  own  numbers. 

England  offers  six-hundred  thousand  florins  as  a 
contribution  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  Bel- 
gian refugees,  but  the  Netherlands  Government  re- 
fuses this  proffered  aid. 

Those  wise  men  of  Holland  do  not  wish  their 
country  to  be  trammelled  with  the  gratitude  of  a 
gift. 

Their  state  is  that  of  neutrality — their  cause  that 
of  humanity ! 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    133 

They  are  strictly  neutral,  independent,  wise,  cau- 
tious and  kind. 

This  is  Holland  to-day. 

Neutrality  in  time  of  war  does  not  imply  that 
one  must  be  without  political  judgment,  or  political 
interest,  or  political  decision,  but  it  does  mean,  that 
the  neutral  nation,  during  the  course  of  the  war, 
neither  injures  nor  assists  any  of  the  combatants 
from  a  military  stand-point. 

And  Holland  guards  her  neutrality  well! 

We  get  papers  from  all  countries,  and  from  this 
heterogeneous  lot  of  people,  hear  so  many  sides,  to 
so  many  different  questions — of  so  many  different 
nations — that  one's  brain  reels  with  ideas  and 
opinions  of  war. 

But  the  question  we  are  most  interested  in  natu- 
rally is  the  feeling  at  home. 

We  are  very  anxious  to  put  our  finger  on  the 
American  pulse. 

The  press  we  know — but  the  people  ? 

As  a  Nation,  the  U.  S.  in  her  quick  decision,  has 
not  been  fair,  which  makes  many  an  American  on 
this  side  of  the  great  Gulf  hot  with  shame. 

As  a  country,  we  have  read  and  re-read  and 
listened  to  the  story  of  the  Allies,  and  it  is  not  a 
pleasant  thing  to  know  that  one's  own  people,  so 
keen  and  sharp-witted  by  nature  and  repute,  so  on 
the  outlook  for  flaws  and  faults  and  falseness  in 
all  transactions  at  home  or  abroad,  sit  now  at  the 
feet  of  the  English  Press,  English  accounts  of  the 
Cause,  and  the  passing  of  Events,  with  eyes  open 


134    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

and  mouth  agap  to  believe  the  tale  that  is  told  with 
the  credence  of  a  child. 

The  representatives  of  the  American  Press  have 
come  decidedly  prejudiced  against  the  much  to  be 
dreaded,  much  to  be  feared,  much  hated  race  of 
Germans,  and  although  they  have  not  been  too  well 
treated,  have  gone  back  to  the  U.  S.  acknowledging 
they  have  been  mis-informed  and  are  fair  and 
straight  enough  to  admit  it. 

It  seems  the  great  hue  and  cry  is  Militarism. 

Is  the  protection  of  a  country  by  a  country  a 
just  cause  for  Warfare? 

To  ask  such  a  question  is  to  answer  it. 

Then  why  not  object  to  and  attack  primarily 
England  and  her  Maritimism? 

The  latter  does  our  neutral  country  and  all  neu- 
tral countries  much  harm,  interfering  with  the 
trade,  the  Commerce  on  the  high  Seas.  And  the 
English  have  intentionally  driven  the  Americans 
from  the  ocean  by  paying  subsidies  which  they 
knew  Congress  would  not  pay. 

They  have  driven  us  from  the  ocean  by  that 
policy  as  effectively  as  they  ever  drove  an  enemy 
from  their  guns. 

Now,  the  European  Steamship  Companies  do 
9/ioth  of  the  Ocean  carrying  for  the  United  States, 
and  the  fact  remains  that  there  is  almost  no 
American  shipping  to  carry  our  grain  and  cotton  to 
Europe.  And  does  it  concern  us  greatly  if  our 
neighbor  guards  his  house,  his  valuables,  by  wiring 
or  a  burglar  alarm? — by  Militarism — or  by  Naval 
Power  ? 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    135 

But  Great  Britain  is  the  greatest  exponent  of 
this  militarism,  because  she  believes  in  the  two 
Power  standard,  which  means  that  her  fleet  must 
always  be  bigger  than  the  two  next  biggest  fleets  on 
Earth. 

She  wants  to  defend  her  water-ways  from  the 
head  of  the  British  Empire  to  all  its  different 
members. 

This  is  the  perfectly  plausible  answer  you  get 
when  you  ask. 

Very  well,  Germany  must  defend  the  water-ways 
of  her  trade,  carrying  a  commercial  fleet  of  five 
billion  dollars'  worth  and  in  addition,  must  defend 
her  threatened  frontiers,  and  insurance  on  her 
national  fortune,  in  people,  land,  and  money. 

This  is  militarism  over  which  America  has  be- 
come a  fanatic,  until  one  might  think  the  German 
nation,  with  the  Kaiser  in  the  lead,  had  ambition 
to  sail  over  the  blue,  and  install  this  dreaded 
militarism  on  our  American  shores,  or  flaunt  it 
over  the  South  American  Republics,  and  that 
Europe  must  be  delivered  from  this  Imperial 
Militarism  as  from  a  scourge,  to  save  its  very 
existence. 

But  we  have  had  at  times  a  peculiar  spasmodic, 
hysterical  gullibility.  We  are  living  in  the  present, 
almost  in  the  same  mental  attitude  as  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  great  struggle  of  1870-71.  For 
at  that  time  European  reports  -ridiculed  Prussian 
effort,  minimized  all  her  endeavors,  belittled  her 
victories,  and  such  was  our  "easy  mark"  attitude, 
that  we  believed  and  soon  found  ourselves  con- 


136    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

fidently  believing  that  all  the  French  had  to  do  was 
to  march  in  on  German  territory,  and  so  prevalent 
was  this  idea,  and  accepted  so  generally,  that  Frank 
Leslie's  Illustrated,  proclaimed  in  its  pages  "A 
'Berlin' — In  three  weeks,  Napoleon  will  hold  Court 
in  Berlin." 

In  face  of  the  ease  in  which  we  absorbed  mis- 
statements, we  were  hardly  prepared  in  so  short  a 
space  of  time,  six  months,  to  learn  of  Kaiser 
William  being  crowned  German  Kaiser  by  the  Ger- 
man Princess,  in  the  courtly  halls  of  Napoleon's 
Versailles,  which  ended  the  route  leading  from 
Saarbriick  to  Paris,  characterized  by  many  as  the 
greatest  military  struggle  the  World  has  ever 
known,  followed  by  the  humiliating  surrender  of 
Napoleon,  and  the  unheard  of  war  indemnity  of 
two  Provinces,  of  five  milliard  francs.  These 
were  the  trip  hammer  shocks  that  brought 
America's  gullibility  to  its  awakened  senses  and  to 
the  cognizance  of  the  fact  how  easy  we  are  to  be 
worked  by  others. 

Does  history  repeat  itself  as  we  are  told  in 
ancient  law? 

From  others  we  hear  that  America's  attitude  is 
entirely  a  question  of  high  finance. 

Germany  has  been  a  bloody  stained  battle-field 
through  the  centuries. 

She  was  a  bulwark  against  the  Huns,  a  victim 
of  religious  contest  in  30  years  of  War,  subject  to 
Louis  XIV  and  Napoleon's  ambitions,  and  has  suf- 
fered from  not  being  a  United  country. 

Since  January  18,  1871,  Germany's  day  of  Inde- 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    137 

pendence,  Germany  stands  united,  and  has  built  up 
a  commercial  trade  that  has  brought  her  great  pros- 
perity and  riches. 

Germany's  chemical  —  electrical — agricultural — 
forestry — industries,  have  aroused  Great  Britain's 
jealousy,  and  to  crush  Germany  there  is  no  method 
and  means  of  destruction,  that  Great  Britain  will 
not  resort  to,  and  of  course  for  the  sake  of  "civili- 
zation" Germany  and  the  German  militarism  must 
be  destroyed. 

Annexation  of  the  colonies,  prevention  of  im- 
ports, withdrawing  of  patents,  are  useful  means  to 
this  end. 

"A  nation  of  shop-keepers"  as  Napoleon  called 
England,  cannot  rise  above  the  money  standard. 
The  following  illustrates  the  facts: — 

The  Englishman  declares  he  will  fight  it  out  to 
his  last  penny. 

The  German,  we  shall  fight  it  out  to  the  last 
drop  of  our  blood. 

We  have  also  been  asked  if  the  Americans  have 
forgotten  the  Mohawk  Valley  massacres,  when  the 
English  paid  a  great  price  for  the  scalps  of  women 
and  children  in  1777  and  their  own  officers  resigned 
their  commissions. 

But  soon  we  put  out  to  Sea,  and  unless  a  floating 
mine  sweeps  us  off  the  Ocean,  we  will  steam  past 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty  into  New  York  Harbor  and 
soon  find  out  the  real  American  attitude. 

But  the  American — the  individual  in  Europe  in 
this  War  time  has  been  admirable.  Men  have  given 
up  their  vocations,  their  callings,  their  professions, 


138    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

their  homes,  to  give  aid  in  varied  and  various  ways 
to  the  dire  distress,  spread  broad-cast  on  the  face 
of  the  Earth. 

And  the  Woman  shines  as  a  jewel  above  price 
in  the  American  Crown  of  Glory. 

She  is  supreme  superior,  wherever  she  is  found 
in  these  war  times.  Irrespective  of  National  pride 
or  prejudice,  she  turns  to  work,  promptly,  patiently, 
with  head  and  heart. 

It  is  the  woman's  hour  of  need,  and  she  answers 
the  call — no  matter  the  country — to  relieve  the  suf- 
fering, to  help  the  wounded,  to  help,  to  give,  in 
any  way  she  can. 

She  gives  up  entirely,  her  personal  life,  her  per- 
sonal pleasures. 

In  Lille,  we  know  an  American  woman  .  who 
remained  through  the  siege,  not  considering  her 
safety,  at  the  time  when  near  by  Les  Goumiers 
killed  and  beheaded  the  26  German  prisoners,  and 
when  the  town  was  declared  open,  and  German  offi- 
cers marched  in,  were  shot,  and  street  battles  of 
the  most  desperate  kind  took  place. 

And  the  women  in  Munich,  Vienna,  Berlin,  and 
the  Hague,  are  accomplishing  great  results  with 
their  untiring,  ceaseless  energy,  with  the  driving 
force  of  earnestness. 

All  we  can  gather  is  that  America  is  tired  of  the 
war — we  are  tired  reading  about  it,  talking  about 
it,  hearing  about  it  and  only  hope  the  belligerent 
powers  will  soon  get  tired  too. 

This  war  touches  our  pockets,  ruins  our  trade, 
interferes  with  our  pleasures  and  is  becoming  just 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    139 

as  much  of  a  bore  to  the  American  people,  as  was 
the  daily  item  of  war  news  from  the  Balkans. 

America  wants  Europe  to  hurry  up  and  have 
peace. 

The  Americans  that  have  been  in  France  are 
French  sympathizers,  those  in  London  are  for 
England  and  everyone  coming  out  of  Germany  is 
pro-German. 

Thus  it  goes  but  the  average  American  really 
argues  that  every  nation  may  be  right,  every  nation 
may  be  wrong,  but  it  is  of  no  vital  interest  who  is 
right  or  who  is  wrong,  who  wins  or  who  loses  as 
long  as  America  goes  unscathed  from  the  European 
fire. 

But  we  want  back  our  Stock  Exchange,  our  com- 
merce, our  gay  drawing  rooms  and  pleasure  trips, 
and  only  hope  that  Europe  will  soon  get  exhausted 
and  stop. 

We  must  not  be  drawn  in ;  the  Gods  of  war  may 
beckon;  but  we  shut  our  eyes  and  guard  our  peace 
and  prosperity. 

But  Americans,  as  individuals  and  as  a  nation, 
must  be  brought  to  look  the  great  gravity  of  this 
European  situation  straight  in  the  face  and  to 
realize  that  the  cause  and  outcome  of  these  wars 
are  of  vital,  national  interest  to  America's  present 
and  future. 

Americans  could  see,  if  they  wanted  to  look, 
that  this  is  not  only  a  war  between  the  nations  of 
Europe;  but  a  deciding  war  of  future  Government 
and  future  influence  to  the  whole  world  and  to  our 


140    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

world  of  America  as  well,  although  we  lie  miles 
over  the  ocean. 

The  ocean  grows  smaller  every  day;  every  year 
Europe  is  nearer  than  most  of  us  seem  to  think. 

We  have  a  golden  western  land  lying  on  the 
broad  Pacific  to  protect,  a  Land  of  Fruit  and  Flow- 
ers, of  trade  and  traffic  and  abiding  in  this  fair 
country  are  about  two-hundred  thousand  of  a 
nation  that  may,  by  the  raising  of  a  finger  in  the 
Empire  of  the  Rising  Sun  become  a  hostile  army 
and  imperil  our  cherished  peace. 

With  the  ocean  road  on  the  Pacific  cleared, 
troops  can  come  sailing  in. 

Where  is  our  army?  where  are  our  arsenals? 
where  our  stores  of  ammunition? 

We  have  a  great  and  glorious  country. 

Have  we  a  great  and  glorious  army  to  stand 
guard,  or  do  we  think  we  are  "thrice  blessed,"  in 
that  we  are  to  be  for  ever  immune  from  wars  on 
our  shores  or  in  our  lands. 

What  is  the  objection  to  compulsory  military 
service  ? 

It  can  do  no  harm — It  can  do  much  good. 

It  is  an  excellent  training  in  morals,  in  discipline, 
in  health,  it  turns  out  a  better  class  of  men  to  fight 
their  own  battles  should  there  be  no  countries' 
battles  to  fight  for. 

It  takes  the  young  men  away  from  fancies  and 
frivolities  at  an  age  when  fancies  and  frivolities 
do  most  harm ;  it  turns  them  into  fine  soldier-men, 
with  clean  health  and  clear  brain. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    141 

Then,  why  not  military  service  for  America  ? 

And  we  must  realize  that  we  can't  for  ever  be 
impervious,  immune  to  the  very  serious  question  of 
the  supremacy  of  race  and  that  the  black  wings  of 
war  can  hover  over  our  country  as  well  as  over 
another. 

October  30th.  Cannons  roar  on  the  banks  of  the 
Yser ;  battles  every  day  go  on  furiously. 

The  Germans  say  frankly  that  Dunkirk  is  their 
objective  point  and  Dunkirk  they  must  have ! 

To  secure  the  desired  result  they  have  flung  into 
the  scales  every  available  means.  Their  troops 
have  attacked  the  Allies  with  tremendous  energy 
and  bravery,  fighting  for  more  than  a  week  without 
securing  any  marked  advantage  as  a  result  of  their 
sacrifices. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  total  of  the  fighting  line 
which  Germany  has  to  maintain  at  present,  in  the 
East  and  West,  amounts  to  well  over  six-hundred 
miles. 

The  struggle  in  the  theatre  of  war  on  the  Yser, 
Ypres  Canal  and  around  Ypres,  also  south-west  of 
Lille,  is  being  continued  with  the  same  persistence. 

The  Germans  have  suffered  heavily  within  the 
last  week  from  the  British  monitors  firing  from  the 
sea,  but  claim  the  British  warships  have  been  driven 
off  by  the  appearance  of  their  heavy  guns — but 
every  report  makes  it  clear,  that  both  sides  have 
suffered  enormous  losses. 

Will  the  Germans  succeed  in  reaching  Dunkirk 
— this  is  the  question  that  both  sides  are  anxiously 
asking  at  present. 


142    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  German  forces  consist  of  about  seven  army 
corps — the  progress  they  have  made  is  slight,  but 
the  battle  is  neither  won  nor  lost. 

The  British  navy  has  just  lost  a  submarine,  and 
the  German  navy  a  cruiser,  by  the  deadly  explosives 
that  lurk  under  the  water,  and  float  around,  one 
knows  not  where. 

There  is  mine-laying  in  the  North  Sea  and  mine- 
laying  as  a  form  of  warfare  is  causing  the  greatest 
anxiety  to  the  vessels  of  neutral  countries  and  to 
the  fisherman  and  his  fishing  craft,  a  goodly  num- 
ber of  whom  have  already  gone  down  in  the 
deep. 

London  announces  that  the  entire  North  Sea 
must  be  considered  military  territory. 

If  only  the  half  of  what  has  been  told  is  true,  of 
the  horrors  and  terrors  of  this  war  of  these  days, 
one  is  dumb  with  anguish  for  all  the  suffering; 
one  report  speaks  of  bridges  of  dead  over  the  Yser, 
seven  times  have  the  Germans  tried  to  cross  in  this 
way  and  that  the  Yser  runs  red  with  blood. 

Shells  come  flying  from  the  sea,  from  Ostend 
and  Nieuport,  bursting  in  the  trenches,  destroying 
bridges  and  causing  terrible  carnage  along  the 
whole  line. 

The  Belgian  King  is  now  with  his  army,  and 
issues  the  following  proclamation: — 

"Soldiers,  our  cities  have  been  burned,  our 
houses  destroyed,  and  mourning  has  come  over  our 
dear  Fatherland ;  but  worse  catastrophies  will  over- 
come our  people  if  you  do  not  deliver  it  from  the 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    143 

invader.  It  is  an  imperative  duty!  You  can 
deliver  your  country  with  the  aid  of  our  brave 
Allies." 

Admiral  Lord  Fisher  has  been  appointed  as 
First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  as  successor  to  Prince 
Louis  of  Battenburg,  who  has  fallen  the  first  vic- 
tim of  the  germanophobe  feeling  of  the  populace. 
His  forty  years  devoted  service  in  the  British  Navy 
count  for  naught. 

The  whole  British  nation  is  rising  up  in  ani- 
mosity against  Germans,  even  against  those  living 
for  many  years  in  England,  and  naturalized. 

Why  not  rise  up  against  their  purely  German 
royal  family,  in  whose  veins  run  German  blood? 

The  grandfather  of  King  George  was  a  Prince 
of  Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha,  Queen  Mary  as  a  born 
Princess  of  Teck,  is  a  purely  German  Princess,  the 
Tecks  being  a  side  branch  of  the  House  of  Wiirt- 
tenburg. 

Therefore,  the  King  and  Queen  of  England 
are  Germans — even  through  Queen  Victoria  of  the 
House  of  Hanover. 

Such  is  the  pedigree  of  the  English  royal  family. 

The  nomination  of  Lord  Fisher  as  First  Sea- 
Lord  puts  into  this  important  position  the  man 
who  more  than  any  other  is  the  maker  of  the 
British  Navy,  and  who  is  to  the  navy  what  Kitch- 
ener is  to  the  army. 

He  is  quoted  as  having  said: — "I  hope  to  live  to 
see  the  whole  German  navy  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea. 


144    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  Turkish  Fleet  has  been  acting  against  Rus- 
sian ports. 

The  possibility  of  Turkish  participation  in  this 
great  war  has  never  been  overlooked,  and  many- 
fresh  developments  may  follow  in  the  wake  of  these 
hostile  actions  and  will  surely  stir  up  the  whole 
Balkan  States. 

It  is  believed  that  Turkey  has  masses  of  troops 
on  the  Russian  frontiers,  and  strong  forces  facing 
Egypt. 

A  Cabinet  Council  in  Lisbon  has  expressed  its 
satisfaction  at  the  preparations  for  war. 

The  Portuguese  contingent  will  be  sent  to 
France  at  the  beginning  of  December;  Portuguese 
officers  have  already  gone  to  London  to  get  into 
direct  communication  with  the  English  General 
Staff. 

England's  wish  that  Portugal  should  join  the 
war  will  be  made  known  at  a  meeting  of  both 
chambers  of  parliament. 

By  a  secret  treaty  three-hundred  thousand  men 
will  be  put  in  the  field  at  Great  Britain's  request. 

How  can  one  country  hold  out  against  so  many? 

Germany's  bravery  and  courage  and  belief  in 
herself  and  her  victory,  although  bleeding  at  every 
pore,  is  prodigious. 

How  very  passing  strange  it  is  to  realize  that  in 
a  short  distance,  these  indescribable  scenes  of 
bloodshed  go  on  and  we  are  here  in  this  sweet  toy- 
land  of  happy  people,  in  this  noiseless,  entrancing 
landscape,  fashioned  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  the 
sweat  of  his  brow — "God  made  the  sea,  we  made 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    145 

the  shore" — undisturbed  by  any  other  sound  than 
the  tinkling  of  the  cow-bells  and  the  musical  chimes 
of  town  and  village  belfry,  ringing  out  gently — 
quaint  old  tunes  that  were  familiar  centuries 
ago! 

November  6th.  Every  day  it  is  a  twice-told 
tale. 

Strong  Russian  re-inforcements  have  caused  the 
Germans  to  withdraw  from  the  Vistula. 

The  morasses  and  lack  of  railways  rendered  it 
desirable  for  General  von  Hindenburg  to  take  up  a 
position  further  back. 

The  great  struggle  on  the  Yser  has  died  down 
leaving  both  sides  in  possession  of  their  main  posi- 
tion. The  inundations  of  the  Yser  have  been  a 
powerful  help  to  the  Belgians,  who  fought  furi- 
ously during  the  bayonet  attacks,  shouting,  "Lou- 
vain"  and  "Dendermonde." 

In  normal  times  the  water  from  the  river  also 
inundates  the  low-lying  Polder  country;  but  now 
the  sluices  are  opened. 

So,  in  Flanders,  as  in  Northern  France,  the  ten- 
sion continues  almost  unabated. 

It  would  seem  that  the  German  Commander  has 
given  up  the  plan  to  break  through  the  line  of  the 
Allies  between  the  sea  and  Dixmude  and  has  com- 
menced a  new  assault  further  to  the  south-east. 

Strong  re-inforcements  are  brought  to  both 
sides,  and  it  is  possible  another  furious  battle  will 
develop. 

Lieutenant-General  von  Falkenhayen,  the  Prus- 
sian Minister  of  War,  takes  the  place  of  Field- 


146    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Marshall  General  von  Moltke  who  is  on  the  sick 
list. 

The  last  loop-hole  to  peace  in  the  Far  East  has 
been  closed. 

Therefore,  out  of  the  European  crash  and 
thunder,  through  the  smoke  and  din  of  French, 
Galician,  Bosnian  battle-fields,  a  gigantic  figure 
rises  over  the  city  of  Constantine — "a  figure 
clothed  in  Khaki,  carrying  a  Mauser  rifle,  but  above 
its  fez-capped  forehead  gleams  the  crescent  moon 
of  Othman." 

And  who  knows  what  strength  of  plan  and  pur- 
pose, what  strength  and  strategy  of  armed  men 
lies  behind  the  walls  of  Imperial  Stamboul? 

English  warships  bombard  the  forts  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  Dardenelles  without  producing  any 
effect. 

England  is  in  fear  of  the  Turkish  invasion  of 
Egypt,  and  a  terrible  outbreak  of  anti-English  feel- 
ing amongst  the  native  population  is  inevitable. 

Several  reports  come  of  a  Bedouin  raid  from 
Palestine. 

The  Persian  Ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg  has 
handed  to  the  Russian  Government  a  demand  for 
the  immediate  withdrawal  of  all  Russian  troops 
from  Persian  territory,  this  is  Persia's  ultimatum. 

What  will  Bulgaria  and  Roumania  do? 

All  eyes  are  turned  to  the  two  Balkan  powers 
whose  decision  may  add  new  complications  to  an 
already  complicated  situation. 

To  the  great  chain  of  war  is  added  a  new  link 
day  by  day. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    147 

And  to  the  Colony  at  The  Hague,  a  new  race,  a 
new  color,  for  the  former  Turkish  Ambassador  in 
London,  Tewfik  Pasha,  and  his  staff  have  arrived. 

The  Hotel  des  Indes  gives  hospice  to  the 
Swedish,  Danish,  German  diplomats,  the  Governor 
of  Antwerp,  Belgians,  Russians,  and  Americans  on 
special  missions  of  relief  and  so  forth. 

If  it  was  not  for  the  tragedy  of  it,  it  would  be  a 
comedy. 

Kiatschau  has  surrendered  to  the  Japanese  and 
thus  the  German  possession  on  which  so  much  has 
been  lavished  is  lost  to  the  Kaiser. 

There  was  no  chance  from  the  beginning  for  this 
brave  colony  on  the  edge  of  the  China  Sea.  Men 
never  fought  and  held  out  so  heroically  to  the  end 
against  certain  defeat.  The  Germans  had  no 
chance  numerically.  Six-thousand  against  sixty- 
two  thousand,  no  chance  against  Japanese  warships 
and  Japanese  bombardment,  to  save  this  much 
treasured  possession. 

There  are  many  who  believe  that  the  fall  of  Kiat- 
schow  will  prove  the  first  link  in  a  chain  of  com- 
plications involving  Chinese  and  American  interests 
in  China. 

China,  however,  is  still  powerless  and  America 
follows  a  policy  of  acquiescence  and  suffers  the 
Japanese  to  nestle  in  the  South  Pacific  Islands  al- 
though they  are  a  direct  danger  for  the  Philippines 
and  the  Samoa  Islands  and  raises  no  protest  to  the 
capture  of  Kiatschou. 

While  the  desperate  struggle  has  been  and  is 
going    on    in    Flanders,    the    tenacious    forces    in 


148    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

France  proceed  without  a  pause,  yet  without  caus- 
ing any  marked  weakening  on  either  side. 

The  first  sea-fight  in  the  present  war  has  taken 
place  near  the  island  of  Santa  Maria,  off  the 
Chilian  coast. 

The  German  Admiral  von  Spee,  has  informed 
the  Chilian  authorities  that  the  fighting  lasted  for 
about  an  hour,  and  ceased  at  nightfall. 

At  Valparaiso,  it  is  thought  that  the  German 
squadron  received  wireless  information  regularly, 
which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  case  with  the 
British  ships,  and  that  the  "Good  Hope"  had  been 
last  seen,  making  for  the  coast  at  full  speed  and 
enveloped  in  flames. 

Evidently  the  German  cruisers  were  lying  in  wait 
for  the  British  ships  when  the  latter  were  coaling 
at  Caronel,  attacking  them  as  soon  as  they  left 
port  and  before  they  had  time  to  arrange  them- 
selves in  battle  order. 

A  number  of  German  cruisers  appeared  on  No- 
vember 3rd  near  Yarmouth  and  opened  bombard- 
ment. 

England  issues  a  formal  declaration  of  war  on 
Turkey  and  has  annexed  Cyprus — an  island  which 
has  been  occupied  by  her  troops  since  1874. 

Cyprus,  with  its  population  of  two-hundred  and 
fifty-thousand  has  been  the  scene  of  many  stirring 
events  in  history  from  the  time  of  the  Phoenicians 
and  Greeks. 

Nothing  can  do  away  with  the  great  fact  that 
German  guns  have  thundered  against  the  coast  of 
Britain. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    149 

It  is  a  terrible  awakening  for  the  British  nation, 
instead  of  British  warships  bombarding  the  Ger- 
man harbors,  the  German  projectiles  are  falling  on 
British  soil,  German  submarines  in  the  Channel, 
German  warships  on  the  East  Coast  of  Britain, 
German  mines  on  the  North  Coast  of  Ireland,  so 
England  is  forced  on  her  own  coast  to  defend  her- 
self against  Germany. 

Battles  are  waged  on  sea  and  on  land. 

November  12th.  Already  three  months  of  con- 
fusion and  carnage  have  passed  and  in  the  wake 
of  war  comes  many  horrors,  much  suffering. 

Famine  threatens  Belgium  and  fifty  large  firms 
have,  through  the  American  Minister  at  The 
Hague,  put  in  a  claim  of  two-hundred  and  fifty- 
million  francs  as  compensation  from  England  for 
the  destruction  of  their  goods  by  English  troops, 
this  destruction  not  having  taken  place  during  the 
defence  of  Antwerp,  but  after  the  evacuation  of 
the  city  by  the  retreating  English. 

America  has  been  splendid  in  her  help  and 
through  an  arrangement  with  Holland,  supplies  are 
sent  direct,  and  the  secretaries  of  the  American 
Legation  go  to  distribute  relief  to  Antwerp,  Brus- 
sels and  other  Belgian  towns. 

The  Dutch  have  shown  human  nature  in  its  best 
and  most  loveable  light  and  have  no  small  problem 
to  deal  with. 

They  are  taxed  to  their  utmost  in  caring  for  the 
homeless  and  cheering  the  helpless. 

The  winter  is  coming  on,  and  they  have  their 


150    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

own  poor — their  home  charities,  which  must  not 
be  neglected  for  the  refugee. 

The  mobilization  of  Holland  costs  three-hundred 
and  twenty-thousand  dollars  per  day. 

It  would  be  idle  to  deny  that  from  an  economic 
stand-point,  Holland  has  suffered  severely  from  the 
great  struggle  now  raging  on  every  side  and  the 
question  confronts  the  country  as  to  how  best  to 
raise  the  huge  sum  of  money  needed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment to  meet  these  special  circumstances. 

The  decision  rests  between  a  loan  and  a  forced 
levy  on  the  high  classes  of  tax-payers. 

We  hear  Ysaye,  who  has  given  us  such  dreams, 
such  mystical  music,  was  three  days  in  a  fishing 
boat,  before  reaching  the  English  coast,  lost  all  of 
his  valuable  manuscript  and  not  a  day  goes  by 
but  one  does  not  hear  some  sad,  some  pitiful 
story. 

Friends  and  families  are  hopelessly  separated. 

In  the  daily  paper,  half  French,  half  English, 
there  is  a  column  of  advertisements  for  lost 
refugees,  one  seeks  a  son,  another  a  wife,  another 
a  father,  and  several  names  will  be  grouped  to- 
gether looking  for  a  lost  comrade  who  was  last 
in  Malines,  or  last  heard  from  in  Antwerp  and 
so  on. 

There  is  many  a  heart-rendering  sight,  many  a 
heard-rendering  story  and  it  is  like  looking  for  a 
needle  in  a  hay-stack  to  start  the  search  for  the 
lost  ones  of  these  poor  bereft  creatures,  driven 
hither  and  thither,  interned  in  Germany,  or  trans- 
ported to  England. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    151 

Can  one  not,  on  the  spot,  realize,  the  utter  de- 
spair of  this  state  of  things,  and  money,  food  and 
clothing  are  needed  in  abundance  to  help  these 
innocent  victims. 

The  middle-class  of  Belgium  has  been  taxed  to 
the  utmost  and  given  its  last  penny;  the  rich 
mostly  remain  abroad. 

A  series  of  sad  sights  indeed! 

There  is  also  a  very  difficult  question  to  deal 
with  regarding  the  prisoners  of  war  of  England 
and  Germany. 

The  intense  bitter  feeling  grows  apace  between 
the  two  countries  and  one  cannot  help  but  feel  the 
flame  is  fanned  by  England's  yellow  press  stirring 
up  further  strife. 

Berlin  issues  an  official  statement  "the  treat- 
ment of  non-combatant  Germans  between  the  ages 
of  17  and  55  years  interned  in  Great  Britain  has 
caused  the  German  Government  to  inform  the 
British  Government  that  British  subjects  in  Ger- 
many will  be  similarly  treated  if  the  German  sub- 
jects have  not  been  released  on  the  15th  inst,  at 
latest." 

As  yet  no  answer. 

This  is  a  very  regrettable  state  of  affairs, 
whereby  many  innocent  people  will  suffer  in  many 
ways. 

America  again  tries  to  come  to  the  rescue  and 
sends  her  tried  men  and  true  to  use  all  their 
influence  to  bring  about  an  understanding  and  to 
solve  this  perplexed  and  very  sorry  question. 

Also  the  closing  of  the  North  Sea  by  England 


152    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

has  raised  a  storm  of  protest  in  all  countries  con- 
cerned. Holland  as  well  as  Sweden,  Denmark  and 
Norway. 

The  shipping  of  these  states  is  more  or  less 
stranded  in  the  interest  of  England. 

The  pretence  that  England  has  to  act  as  she 
does  in  consequence  of  Germany's  breach  of  inter- 
national rules  is  taken  at  its  value ;  for  it  is  known 
the  German  Navy  has  restricted  itself  laying  mines 
only  within  the  three-mile  zone  of  the  English 
coast  and  this  high-handed  action  of  England  has 
caused  the  three  Scandinavian  countries  to  lodge  a 
joint  protest  in  London. 

The  German  Government  officially  protests 
against  the  false  accusations  made  by  Britain  that 
German  hospital  and  merchant  ships  had  been 
guilty  of  the  placing  of  mines. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South  of  the  North 
Sea  and  the  channel,  a  number  of  mines  of  Great 
Britain  and  France  are  drifting  about  which  have 
not  lost  their  power. 

The  way  along  the  Downs  and  the  East  Coast 
of  England  involves  serious  danger  while  the  Nor- 
thern Sea  is  free  of  mines. 

Lord  Loreburn,  who,  for  a  number  of  years 
was  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  declared  in  a 
book — "On  private  property  in  a  Naval  War"  pub- 
lished last  year,  that  a  proposal  to  close  the  entire 
North  Sea  from  Dover  and  Calais  to  the  Shetland 
Isle  and  Bergen,  would  be  a  distinct  violation  of 
the  neutrality  of  such  lands,  as  Holland,  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway. 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    153 

But  English  ideas  and  ideals  of  former  days  and 
the  present  differ  widely. 

In  1909,  Sir  Edward  Grey  publicly  described  the 
Belgian  rule  in  the  Congo  State  as  "indistinguish- 
able from  slavery" — on  October  22nd  of  the  same 
year,  he  stated  in  Sheffield,  that  the  Congo  natives 
were  forced  through  most  inhuman  methods  to 
hardest  manual  labor  without  the  least  compen- 
sation. 

It  was  then  imperatively  urged  that  in  all  its 
African  possessions  Belgium  should  adopt  the 
humane  policies  of  England  and  of  Germany. 

Both  of  the  latter  Governments  had  expended 
considerable  sums  on  the  up-building  of  their 
colonies,  whereas  the  Belgians  were  simply  preying 
upon  and  despoiling  their  Congo  Colony. 

Thus,  the  growth  of  Antwerp  was  largely  due 
to  the  wealth  created  through  the  blood  and  the 
suffering  of  the  Congo  natives. 

In  July  191 1,  in  a  "Nineteenth  Century"  article 
entitled — "La  Force  Noire," — Max  Montesole 
criticised  the  enrolling  of  African  troops  in  the 
French  army. 

He  wrote: — "I  protest  against  their  being  trans- 
ported from  their  country  like  chained  tigers,  to  be 
unloosed  against  Europeans." 

This  seems  all  very  strange  reading  in  view  of 
present  events  and  past  ideals. 

News  comes  that  the  "Emden,"  that  swift  and 
daring  little  cruiser,  which  had  captured  the  public 
imagination   by   its   ceaseless   assaults   on   British 


154    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

commerce,  has  been  surprised  and  destroyed  in  the 
Indian  Ocean,  off  the  Keeling  Islands. 

Now  Britain,  through  her  Allied  Fleets  gains  the 
semblance  of  supremacy  over  the  ocean. 

Commander  von  Miiller  is  saved,  and  with  him 
Prince  Franz  Joseph  von  Hohenzollern,  is  taken 
prisoner. 

The  British  papers  pay  tribute  to  this  brave, 
chivalrous  enemy,  who  has  fulfilled  his  duties  so 
loyally,  so  ably,  and  recognized  that  although  he 
inflicted  losses  amounting  to  many  millions  of 
pounds  sterling,  he  always  acted  with  the  most 
perfect  courtesy,  without  causing  needless  loss  of 
life,  or  unnecessary  damage,  always  minutely  ob- 
serving the  laws  of  war,  and  his  name  will  go 
down  gloriously  in  history. 

Warfare!  Modes  and  methods  of  war  are  in 
the  throes  of  changing,  fortifications  are  hence- 
forth of  but  small  avail,  seafare  changes  also. 

It  will  be  no  longer  the  ambition  of  every  coun- 
try to  float  so  many  proud  Dreadnoughts  a  year, 
but  to  construct  as  many  submarines  as  the  Ex- 
chequer permits,  and  the  people  vote. 

It  is  this  destructive,  unseen  enemy  that  is  the 
strength  and  backbone  of  Germany's  navy. 

The  submarine,  so  far,  has  done  much  damage 
to  the  enemy's  fleet;  it  is  to  the  submarines  that 
we  must  look  for  the  protection  of  our  lands,  not 
so  much  to  the  powerful  awe-inspiring  Dread- 
naught. 

To  Italy  are  flying  Germans  and  Austrians  who 
have  to  leave  Egypt  and  a  brother  of  the  Khedive, 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    155 

Prince  Mohamed  Ali,  and  the  Egyptian  princes, 
Hussem  and  Assis  Hassan  all  expelled  by  the 
British. 

Every  effort  has  been  made  by  France  and  Eng- 
land to  bribe  the  Italian  Government,  by  virtual 
promises  of  Trieste  and  the  Trientmer  region,  to 
declare  war  against  its  former  Allies. 

The  third  and  last  element  of  this  pacific  pro- 
gram was  therefore  the  attempted  seduction  of 
Italy  from  the  Triple  Alliance  by  raising  the  Irre- 
dentist hopes  of  winning  from  Austria  this  Trent 
district  in  South  Tyrol  which  Italy  so  covets. 

Telegrams  state  the  French  troops  under  the 
command  of  General  Aymerich  have  seized  the 
main  part  of  the  German  Congo,  which  in  191 1, 
was  ceded  to  Germany,  in  exchange  for  relinquish- 
ing her  claim  in  Morocco. 

The  whole  Ubangi  district  is  said  to  be  again  in 
the  possession  of  the  French. 

The  Germans  re-take  Dixmude,  one  of  the 
storm  centres  of  the  furious  struggles  which  have 
marked  the  German  efforts  to  cross  the  frontier 
into  France  and  advanced  towards  Dunkirk  and 
Calais.  But  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Rus- 
sians on  the  German  frontier  show  that  the  slow- 
moving  masses  of  the  Czar  are  now  in  onward 
movement. 

A  boulversement  of  the  whole  European  world, 
East  and  West,  a  European  cyclone,  a  European 
earthquake — what  you  will!  And  if  calm  and 
peace  ever  come,  many  peoples  and  many  nations 
will  have  to  "find  themselves!" 


156    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

November  ijth.  The  week-end  brings  but  little 
change  in  Flanders,  where  battles  on  dykes  and 
dunes  are  impeded  by  the  mists  and  fogs  which  add 
more  terrors  to  the  battlefields  and  artillery  duels 
boom  steadily. 

From  Flushing  the  heavy  boom  of  guns  can  be 
heard  from  the  Belgian  coast. 

It  is  an  open  question  if  the  changed  conditions 
of  the  weather  will  materially  alter  the  line  and 
force  of  decision,  for  the  land  of  the  Yser  and  the 
Lys  is  inundated  and  rain,  snow  and  icy-winds 
reign  supreme. 

The  fear  of  sharp  frost  is  troubling  the  armies 
in  Belgium  and  France;  but  when  the  biting  cold 
and  approaching  winter  comes  in  Poland  and  East 
Prussia  will  be  even  a  more  serious  question. 

Napoleon's  campaign  is  yet  fresh  in  the  memory 
when  no  enemy  but  an  icy  frost,  accomplished  his 
defeat  in  the  Beresina. 

In  1813,  it  was  proved,  that  while  the  Russian 
soldier  could  bear  up  against  the  cold,  the  Western 
soldier  gave  out. 

It  remains  to  be  seen  if  the  hardy-bred,  enduring 
Teuton,  can  conquer  wind  and  weather  as  well  as 
foes. 

Lord  Roberts,  the  famous  British  Field  Marshal, 
is  dead,  from  illness  contracted  on  a  visit  to  Indian 
troops  in  France. 

In  his  eighty-two  years  he  has  seen  much  ser- 
vice from  the  moment  when  he  distinguished  him- 
self at  the  Siege  of  Delhi,  during  the  mutiny,  to 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    157 

his  becoming  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British 
Army. 

During  this  time  he  has  served  three  sovereigns 
in  turn,  who  have  showered  on  him  honors  and 
gold,  adoration  and  love. 

He  never  failed;  his  soldiers  were  faithful,  his 
Sepoys  and  Sikhs  rushed  into  the  fire  for  him,  and 
England  lost  a  hero,  an  adviser,  and  the  entire 
German  press  states  that  "even  in  war,  there  are 
moments,  when  a  warrior  salutes  the  enemy  with 
his  sword,  and  the  death  of  Lord  Roberts  brings 
one  such  moment." 

Holland,  this  Pays  Bas,  still  struggles  bravely 
with  her  difficulties. 

The  amount  of  the  war  loan  that  is  proposed 
is  two-hundred  and  seventy-five  million  florins, 
which  will  only  be  sufficient  if  the  war  and  its 
direct  consequences  do  not  last  longer  than  an- 
other six  months,  that  is,  than  April  191 5.  The 
Council  of  State  is  said  to  have  approved  the 
bill. 

The  registration  bureau  is  working  well,  at  least 
three-hundred  of  the  lost  are  found  and  located. 

Holland,  not  in  war,  is  busy  with  war,  effects  of 
war! 

In  Constantinople  it  is  declared  that  never  before 
has  the  Khalifate,  in  the  same  form  as  at  present 
unfolded  the  banner  of  the  Holy  War,  even  the 
holy  wars  carried  on  by  Islam,  at  the  time  of  the 
crusades  could  not  be  compared  with  this  event. 

When  the  word  is  given,  every  Mohammedan 
knows  his  duty.     Hundreds  of  thousands  of  pil- 


158    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

grims  coming  to  Medina  and  Mecca  receive  the 
order. 

The  ex-Khedive,  Abbas  Helin,  will  be  obliged 
this  year  to  extend  his  stay  on  the  Bosphorus. 

The  Khedive  is  now  preparing  to  accompany  the 
Turkish  army  in  its  campaign  against  the  British 
in  Egypt  and  believes  in  Allah's  help  to  crown  his 
efforts  with  success. 

This  war  is  titanic. 

It  grows  more  fearful,  more  frightful  every 
day. 

Can  there  be  no  dove  of  peace  to  let  loose? 

Have  the  neutral  powers  no  power  to  combine 
for  the  forcing  of  an  armistice,  or  arrangements 
for  peace,  to  stay  the  riotous  murder  of  all  the 
peoples  of  the  earth? 

Nation  after  nation  is  being  drawn  into  a 
struggle  whose  continuance  can  serve  no  ideal  end 
whilst  it  is  slaying  or  destroying  the  noblest  youth- 
ful powers  of  Europe,  and  leaving  only  the  names 
of  some  famous  towns  on  the  map.  The  sufferings 
of  hundreds  of  thousand  are  becoming  unbearable. 

Human  woe  is  rising  to  heaven,  witnessing 
against  religion  and  civilization. 

Is  not  the  moment  come  to  attempt  to  save  what 
there  is  yet  to  save?  Two  countries  are  indicated 
for  this  task,  the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands  and 
the  Republic  of  the  United  States  of  North 
America. 

The  Queen  Wilhelmina  is  honored  and  popular 
in  our  country  over  the  seas,  and  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  is  generally  known  and  esteemed 


WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN    159 

in  our  Republic.  Cannot  both  Governments  now 
under  these  favorable  conditions  and  circumstances 
together  prepare  for  the  task  of  offering  their 
Mediation  ? 

The  "Algemein  Handelsblad"  urges  this  through 
its  press,  stating  a  like  opportunity  may  not  easily 
occur  as  the  present,  which  refers  to  the  departure 
of  the  American  Minister  at  the  Hague  for  a 
vacation  at  Washington,  believing  his  presence 
there  a  fortunate  occasion  to  bring  Holland  and 
America  together  in  a  united  plan,  an  armistice 
plan,  a  peace  plan! 

That  a  powerful  word  could  be  spoken,  is  quite 
true,  if  one  has  the  right  spokesman,  but  the 
"bringer"  together  of  these  two  powers,  the  one 
who  is  to  let  loose  the  dove  of  peace,  must  be  one 
whose  official  neutrality  is  unquestioned,  sans 
reproache,  no  matter  what  may  be  his  private  con- 
victions and  opinions,  which  is  not  the  case  with 
the  American  Minister  at  the  Hague,  who  is  most 
professedly  anti-German  and  has  this  reputation, 
not  only  in  the  Hague  but  all  over  Europe. 

A  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  a  neutral  coun- 
try to  a  neutral  country  must  retain  absolute  neu- 
trality, in  speech  and  action  if  there  is  to  be  any 
chance  for  World  Understanding,  for  World  Peace. 

It  would  prove  a  great  honor  to  Holland  if  it 
was  Holland's  Queen  who  had  the  high  courage  to 
speak  the  first  word,  that  will  show  the  people  of 
Europe  the  way  to  a  lasting  peace. 

The  possibility  of  a  solution  must  be  con- 
sidered. 


160    WAR  DIARY  OF  AN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

It  is  unbearable  to  look  on  at  the  massacre  of  the 
flower  of  Europe's  manhood  the  hope  for  the 
Future. 

If  only  the  Christmas  bells  could  gladly, 
gloriously  ring  out  from  world  end  to  world 
end: 

"Peace  on  Earth — Good  Will  towards  Man." 


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